


Kalopsia

by ADashOfStarshine (ADashOfInsanity)



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Lonely men find each other in the depths of space, M/M, Masturbation, Odyssey AU, Odyssey Aphelios, Ordinal Kayn, Sex Toys, Sexual Tension, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADashOfInsanity/pseuds/ADashOfStarshine
Summary: Though certain he'll find the Morning Star soon, Ordinal Kayn has instead discovered an anomaly - a ship not on any of the extensive records kept by the Imperial fleet. What starts as an idle curiosity into an unknown culture, soon develops into avid fascination with the ship's sole occupant, a Tagari bounty hunter by the name of Aphelios.Yet neither Kayn nor Aphelios travel lightly. With voices in their heads and seemingly impossible tasks ahead of them, will their meeting create something more or simply drive them deeper into their personal delusions?  Truly only time will tell, but what does time even mean in the vast emptiness of space?A Kaynphel story set in the Odyssey universe.
Relationships: Aphelios/Shieda Kayn
Comments: 18
Kudos: 66





	1. First Contact

_Ship Incoming At Co-ordinates 138.27.5 at Projected Speed Of-_

“Identify Ship,” Ordinal Kayn interrupted the ship’s computer with an impatient huff of a command. He tapped his foot against the base of his chair, his knocking growing ever more frequent as the computer took an extraordinary long time to fulfil one of the most basic of tasks. How long had it been? Thirty seconds? A minute? Unacceptable. The ship could be on them by now! He’d just got this system overhauled, if the tech-monkeys had given him a faulty set of gear, heads would roll.

_Ship Unidentifiable._

“What?” Kayn demanded, “I said, Identify Ship!”

Another half a minute of nothing then.

_Ship Unidentifiable._

“Excuse me?!” Kayn protested, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

**“I would think it was obvious. Have you gone deaf from the sound of your own prattling?”**

He had neither asked for, nor wanted, Rhaast’s assistance right now. He slammed his first against the control board.

“Shut up. This doesn’t make sense,” Kayn retorted, “This ship is equipped with a memory bank of every known ship in imperial territory, Empire-class, Syndicate-class and everything in between.”

_Ship does not adhere to any known model on Imperial Records._

Kayn scowled at the computer, which was very much doing its job, but that didn’t excuse how one ship could throw it completely out of order.

“On screen,” he ordered, settling back in his chair before he did any more damage to the central monitor. Rhaast, who was leaning on the Captain’s chair, narrowed his eye at the viewscreen as he and Kayn were presented with a perfect view of the darkness of space. Besides from the usual array of distant stars, and the occasional piece of floating debris, the area looked empty. Kayn squinted at the viewfinder – was the thing cloaked? That was the only way he could excuse this display of utter nothing. Was the computer on the fritz?

“Where’s the ship?” he asked.

The view on the screen zoomed in on one particular patch of empty space.

 **“Oh joy, your computer has finally decided to drive you mad,”** commented Rhaast.

“Not necessarily,” Kayn retorted, “Computer, show heat signatures for that region.”

Now he knew he could be looking for a cloaked vessel, there was no point trying to squint at the emptiness of space. As the view screen lit up with a dazzling blue to red heat array, he gave a grin of triumph. Cloaks could only take you so far! All machinery chucked out a ton of waste heat and this vessel was no exception. Kayn boosted the vision on his eyepiece and scanned the viewscreen with an increasingly critical gaze, attempting to gather information from the ship’s shape alone. One thing was for certain:

“It’s tiny,” he commented, “How is that thing staying on trajectory?”

 **“It looks like target practice to me,”** Rhaast growled, “ **If it can fly, it can make a beautiful bang.”**

“Tempting,” Kayn admitted, “But a complete waste of an opportunity. If this is tech unknown to the Empire, then it could hold some vital advantage to my, I mean, our, plans. What is a more perfect way to act without anyone knowing than to not be known at all?”

 **“You assume the owner of the ship will just hand it over in one piece,”** Rhaast replied, **“Your opportunity will likely burn after they pick a fight they can’t win. What use is a smoldering wreck after they dare open fire on us?”**

“Well, we don’t know that until we try,” Kayn stated simply, before turning back to the monitor, “Computer, open communications with the unknown vessel.”

He sat up a little straighter in his chair, quickly adjusting his hair in the view screen, before clasping each of the arm rests in an authoritative Captain’s pose.

_Transmitting Communication Signal._

On second thought, Kayn moved Rhaast so he was lying on the floor out of sight.

 **“I hardly think that’s necessary,”** complained the scythe.

_Signal Locked._

_Requesting Communications Channel._

“This could be first contact with unregistered culture,” Kayn told him, “You hardly make a good first impression.”

 **“And your scrawny metal-coated body does?”** Rhaast retorted. Kayn was about to tell him about the love, care and training he put into his scrawny metal-coated body thank you very much, when the computer confirmed:

_Communications Accepted._

_Unidentified Ship Broadcasting Audio Only. Do you wish to continue Broadcasting Visual and Audio Signals?_

“Yes,” Kayn replied, “Prepare for recital of initial message.”

_Initial message prepared, please speak after the tone._

The automated voice was followed by a long drone. Kayn took a deep breath before launching into the proper authoritative spiel.

“This is Ordinal Kayn of the Demaxian Empire, hailing you from aboard the Winged Glory. You are piloting an uncategorized and unregistered vehicle in Imperial Territory. Identify yourself, your point of origin and the purpose of your journey before I am forced to take punitive action against yourself and your vessel.”

 **“Well, you almost sounded like someone worth respecting there,”** Rhaast commented from the floor. Kayn ignored him. There was a moment in which he waited for the message to be received and for the reply to come back, hopefully intelligible. At first, he heard the tell-tale crackle of barely compatible communication systems, followed by a whisper of:

“Alune, what’s an Ordinal?”

A slight pause.

“Really? That’s…not who I expected to meet ever.”

The person on the other end of the line sounded young and most likely human. It sounded like he either had a second person with him, or he had named his ship’s computer. In all honesty, the unknown ship didn’t look big enough to support two life forms. Kayn began tapping his foot once more as he heard the person clear their throat to reply.

“Ordinal Kayn of the Demaxian Empire, I am Aphelios of the Tagari People, on board the Seer’s Reach. My point of origin was the planet Tagari, two Trade-Standard years ago. The purpose of my journey is to search and recover what was stolen from my people by the raiders of the Syndicate. I mean no harm or inconvenience to the Demaxian Empire. Please instruct me how to continue forth without punitive action against myself or my vessel.”

Usually when Kayn accosted people, they weren’t so forthcoming with information. He had never heard of a planet named Tagari or its people, which explained why this ship was off the record. Yet even though the Empire knew nothing of the Tagari, it was clear the Syndicate did. This only served to pique Kayn’s interest further. What did the Tagari have that was worth stealing? What was so valuable that this Aphelios had spent two Trade-Standard years trying to get it back? Between the unknown ship and this intriguing explanation, Kayn knew he had to get this Tagari on board. Fortunately, he had an excuse ready and waiting for him.

“Aphelios of the Tagari People,” he replied, “For ease of your travel through Imperial Territory, I would ask that you dock and join me upon the Winged Glory. There we may discuss options for the authentication of your vehicle so you may continue unimpeded by less forgiving Imperial Authorities. I would also ask for some details on your people’s quarrel with the Syndicate, as it appears, we are working against a common enemy and any information exchanged between us may be valuable for us both.”

A small pause as messages were sent and received was followed by:

“Thank you Ordinal Kayn for your kindness and generosity. If you could please send me docking coordinates, I will join you on the Winged Glory.”

That was remarkably simple.

**“This one is either extremely confident or extremely naive.”**

“Or both,” Kayn agreed. He was leaning towards the latter considering the man hadn’t even known what an Ordinal was. However, that didn’t stop him being interesting. A new race of people meant plenty of new things to discover – starting with their technology, to see if there anything worth taking for his own. Aphelios of the Tagari would no doubt need more information about the Empire, so perhaps it was time for a cultural exchange of sorts? An information gathering exercise for both sides – not exactly what Kayn planned to do on this trip, but perhaps a worthwhile endeavour. And if the Tagari turned out to be of no use to him? Well, he could simply kill the man and take his ship. Either way he’d get something out the deal. It was a fool’s errand to think anyone could take him down when he was alone on his own vessel.

Well almost his vessel. Kayn missed the style and comfort of the Fractal Shear – his very own war cruiser. However, there was nothing discrete about traveling the universe in a war cruiser. Kayn wasn’t on imperial business right now – he didn’t want the hassle of having to manage a full ship’s worth of staff, resources, morale, all those needlessly complicated things that got between him and his next target. Taking out imperial war cruisers required things like permits and mission statements, all needless paperwork and deeply illegal to lie on. Thankfully Kayn was in good enough stead with the Emperor to simply borrow a smaller ship for his purposes. He’d given a fairly truthful reason for the loan – he was looking for a valuable prisoner that had been lost. A valuable prisoner that had essential information for the Empire. What he hadn’t told Jarvan was the fact he had loaded the Winged Glory up with battle drones and cranked its fire-power up a notch – for his inevitable encounter with the Morning Star. Being the only person aboard the ship meant he could do pretty much what he wanted from here. Want to go check out an interesting looking space port nearby? No problem. Don’t feel like wearing your uniform twenty-four seven? No problem. Want to stock the kitchen with luxurious groceries rather than military-assigned rations? Perfect. Not to mention the lack of annoying whiny people who questioned what he said! No ‘is this the correct procedure Ordinal’ or ‘have you filed the proper forms for this sir’. He was free! Free to explore the cosmos! Free to keep his own schedule! Free to do whatever he wanted! The universe was at his fingertips, just as long… as he could do it all by himself.

Just as he had been for the last three months.

Just him.

Alone.

In the vastness of space, with just a sentient scythe for company. 

Which was fine.

Utterly fine!

Who needed friends? Whoever would think he needed fun and fulfilling conversations that weren’t about how Rhaast wanted to consume his body and eat his soul or whatever! Kayn was doing great. Completely and undoubtedly great. He was excited about having this Tagari on his ship, not because he was company, but because he was the first Imperial officer to come in contact with an unregistered people! He didn’t get the title of Ordinal without being a professional after all. Therefore, he took a moment to compose himself and straighten up his uniform, as the Tagari docked in the Winged Glory’s hangar. He was alerted to the ship’s landing by the computer as the hangar was made safe for human habitation again. Kayn checked his hair in the view screen one more time, before picking up Rhaast and heading out.

 **“So, if this one disappoints, we slaughter him,”** Rhaast stated as they headed down to the hangar.

“If there’s no other use for him,” Kayn replied, “Even if his tech isn’t anything special, he is from a new culture, that might be interesting.”

 **“Since when were you interested in cultural appreciation?”** Rhaast drawled, **“I thought you wished to subjugate the entire universe under your singular rule.”**

“I do,” Kayn insisted, “However, if the empire doesn’t know about it already, then the Tagari might have something to help me do that.”

 **“I can hardly believe there’s something a Tagari weapon has that I lack,”** Rhaast scoffed.

The halls of the Winged Glory were silent if not for the buzzing of the occasional light fitting. That made Kayn’s words ring all the louder through the sleekly panelled corridors.

“I was talking about gathering intelligence,” he retorted, “Something you clearly lack.”

Rhaast ‘hmphed’ as they entered the elevator. If he was going to quip back, it was promptly drowned out by the elevator music. Compulsory on every Imperial starcraft, and rumoured to have been chosen by the Emperor himself to ‘improve morale’, the music never failed to both get stuck in your head and sicken your stomach. Kayn had paid an exorbitant fee to remove it from the Fractal Shear, yet there was nothing that defined “compulsory mission” more than the saccharine nature of this tune. Thank the cosmos, Kayn didn’t have to travel around the ship too much. Everything he needed to live was on the same layer as the bridge. By the time they were at hangar level, both scythe and wielder sported a notable grimace.

“We have to return the ship in one piece with all its original programming,” Kayn growled – to himself or Rhaast, he neither knew nor cared.

Morale decidedly worsened, he strode off to the hangar. Jamming his access code into the lock, he entered with a shiver at the frigid temperatures of the landing bay. The Winged Glory was a small Aid-class vessel, designed for carrying rescue teams, medical crews, or particularly small numbers of reinforcements to ongoing missions. Usually, this hangar would contain one or two scout vessels, and such supplies that could be buckled down so they weren’t sucked into the emptiness of space every time the doors opened. Before he’d invited the Tagari on board, there had been one emergency evacuation vessel and a distinct lack of supplies in here, as Kayn didn’t intend to be aiding anyone. Yet now… Now there was something quite special.

 **“Well, it’s shiny,”** Rhaast commented.

It was indeed shiny. In fact, it may be the shiniest ship Kayn had ever seen. The exterior of this tiny spacecraft had been polished to a mirror sheen – bar a few black scrapes on its lower half. It reflected the hangar around it perfectly, making it almost perfectly camouflaged, if Kayn couldn’t see himself on its walls. The reflection was slightly darker than the reality, hinting that this ship might have a darker hue than a mirror for personal grooming. It was, however, a marvel considering how such a small ship would be unlikely to support a cloaking device. The closer he got, the easier it became to pick out the lines of the ship compared to the image of the hangar on its surface. The entire thing looked smaller than Kayn’s apartment back in the Capital. Scrap that, it looked smaller than half of Kayn’s apartment back in the Capital. Unlike his home, this ship had no visible windows, though that wasn’t to say there weren’t any. The whole vessel sat on three landing supports – each about a foot tall and tipped with black docking grips. The propulsion system at the rear was giving off a whiff of expensive spaceport-brand fuel, and besides the few scrapes on the underside, the vessel looked to be in pristine working order. Having been around enough small scout, evacuation, or silencer crafts, Kayn knew a well-cared for ship when he saw one. Especially one that would need so much exterior care for its own protection.

There was a slight hiss as an invisible panel in the side of the ship suddenly slid open. Kayn swiftly backed off a few feet, Rhaast ready in hand in case the Tagari turned out not to be as agreeable as he appeared. A set of silver stairs drifted from the ship’s dark exterior, floating with a pale blue light and creating a series of steps from the entrance to the hangar floor. Kayn narrowed his eye, tension mounting as he waited for the first glimpse of an unknown people from an unknown world. He wasn’t kept waiting for long. An armoured boot appeared in the dark entrance, accompanied by a glimpse of the sort of tight black synthetic fabric you’d expected from one accustomed to space travel. Yet it was what followed the boot, and who wore the tight synthetic mesh, that made Kayn’s thoughts give a double take. His mouth opened as if to comment on his shock to Rhaast, but all that came out of his mouth was a very quiet:

“Oh.”

Aphelios of the Tagari was a human, likely male, who stood about six feet tall from silver toe to purple-streaked tips. He was well armoured in metal plate and thick battle-weave, his clothing emblazoned in an unfamiliar logo of a circle trailing decreasingly sized crescents, perhaps a comet or a series of parallel moons. He was very pale, not unusual for someone who spent their days under a ship’s artificial lighting, but it only served to darken his hair and eyes, which were a deep shade of purple. Aphelios seemed to have excellent taste in haircuts, for he too had shaved off half a head of his hair and wore the rest in a messy asymmetrical style, the glossy strands being streaked with a paler purple dye. Yet it appeared he hadn’t just shaved for aesthetic like Kayn had. No, what made Aphelios of the Tagari so amazing, so interesting, so ungodly amounts of exciting….

 **“Well, well,”** Rhaast commented, **“Looks like we’re not disembowelling this one after all.”**

No. Never. Kayn was repulsed by the very thought! Why would he ever want to ruin someone who was as clearly enlightened as he was. If this was how all the Tagari lived, then he’d discovered the most perfect people of all. Or perhaps it was just Aphelios. There was no denying that this man was handsome, about Kayn’s age, and best of all…

Aphelios was covered in Ora.

The reason his hair had been shaved back on one side was clearly to make way for more Ora. His scalp was plated in the Ora’s glorious golden sheen, complete with a series of blue circular lights that glittered slightly as Aphelios descended the stairs. His face was framed in thick ora plates, a larger illuminated plate on the front of the frame stood half an inch before his bottom lip, which in turn was striped with Ora banding. Another plate supported a crescent shaped eyepiece over Aphelios’ right eye. It would appear to be a normal custom job, if not for the fact that the item interfaced with the cerebral augment on his head. Muscle-enhancing augments were baby steps – the beginner’s mod that you could get from any unscrupulous lab. Aphelios had those - The little arm he was showing between armour and glove was ribbed with more of those shining bands that disappeared under his clothing. Yet implementing Ora into something as sensitive, intricate and important as your brain, or your eye… That required an immense level of trust and willpower, some would say desperation, on the part of the augmented, and an even greater level of skill from the augmenter. One wrong incision and you could sever a man’s ability to function, one misplaced connection and you could give your patient a life-changing stroke. Kayn was never getting his left eye back – there was nothing but machinery in that socket now. However, if his surgery had gone wrong, he could’ve ended up with no vision, crippling pain, and nothing even to show for it. The Tagari must have some masterful surgeons for Aphelios to function with that much Ora-built machinery plugged directly into his brain. Kayn was itching to ask what it was all for. Why had Aphelios augmented himself so much? Yet that was hardly a welcoming first encounter, he’d have to give it a few hours at least.

Aphelios reached the hangar floor before banishing his steps with a wave of his hand. His ship closed up behind him as he looked around for his welcome. His augments lit up brighter when he spotted Kayn standing a short distance away. Taking a few steps forward, he pressed his finger-tips to the plate on his chin before taking to one knee. Kayn swiftly realised that this must be a gesture of respect where he came from. Honestly, it was a pretty thrilling sight. This handsome Ora-covered man paying deference to him, kneeling before him… but that wasn’t a fantasy to indulge in right now.

“At ease,” Kayn told him, “No need for formality when there’s just the two of us.”

 **“Two?”** Rhaast repeated. Kayn ignored him. He wasn’t going to open up his conversation with Aphelios by stating that they were joined by a crazy talking scythe.

“Thank you, Ordinal,” Aphelios replied, getting to his feet. His voice was soft, perhaps a little rough from lack of use. There was no way in which such a tiny ship could support more than one human occupant. Kayn would probably go stir crazy living in a space that small, but apparently Aphelios had been in it for two years. That was something else to add to his ever-growing list of questions.

“It’s Kayn,” he told him, “Though before we drop titles, please allow me, as the first Imperial Officer to encounter the Tagari people, to welcome you aboard the Winged Glory. This is usually a rescue and recovery vessel, with a crew of eight to twelve plus officer. However, I have borrowed it for a matter of reconnaissance. If case of emergency, mechanised support will be deployed however I am currently on a solo mission. Please direct any questions you may have to myself or the ship’s computer.”

Aphelios nodded politely to show he understood.

“Thank you again Ord- I mean Kayn,” he said, “Your generosity is most kind. I will do my best to answer any queries you may have about my people, in exchange for knowledge on how to pilot through the Empire safely. I feel like I should note, that whilst I can probably answer many of your questions, I’m a soldier, not a diplomat.”

Though his composure was immaculate, there seemed to be a little nervousness in his tone. Was he worried about disappointing Kayn, or failing to represent his people? Judging by the fact he was standing in front of Kayn straight-backed and seemingly unarmed, he made him think the latter. Not that he needed to worry of course.

“Well thank the stars for that then,” Kayn stated with a wry smile, “I’d hate to think I’d picked up some stuffy scholar who’d never seen the fun end of a laser rifle. What’s your choice of arms soldier?”

“I’ve trained across every discipline the Tagari has to offer,” Aphelios replied, “Though my style is decidedly my own. I can show you…if drawing weapons wouldn’t be an insult to your hospitality.”

“My ship, my rules, so go ahead,” Kayn said, if this man wasn’t all talk then he was definitely warming to the man. As someone who trained in every weapon he could get his hands on, he was certainly interested in another cross-discipline master. Especially one who apparently had come armed, but didn’t look like he had a single weapon on him except his fists.

Aphelios nodded once more before opening a series of metal-enforced pouches attached to his belt. From the five slots, he withdrew five cylindrical structures, each looked like it was made of a bright glittering white marble. They definitely looked like they had the weight of stone, but to eyes as keen as Kayn’s he could tell the gold veins through the white stone were not ordinary metal. The stone cylinders were filled with yet more Ora, seemingly naturally running through the rock. Gripping the rods in each hand, Aphelios clashed the stonework together with a solid sounding thud. Much to Kayn’s increasing amazement, each rod suddenly lit up with an ethereal-looking coloured glow. Aphelios tossed three of the rocks up into the air and they hung there, suspended seemingly by their own power. Kayn stared at them, like a new pilot dazzled by a spaceport’s lights. Yet his attention was swiftly directed to Aphelios’ hands as the rods that remain began to extend their glows into bright neon shapes. The frame work of weaponry sketched out in pure light, each rod unique.

 **“Well even I didn’t see this coming,”** Rhaast commented as Aphelios brandished a neon-pink laser-sickle in one hand and an enormous electric blue rifle in the other.

“These weapons are not typical Tagari fare, each is one of a kind, created for me by my sister,” Aphelios explained, “They feed off the power of the Ora within their host tubes and that within my body.”

He threw the sickle up into the air, where it collided with one of the floating rods, which promptly dropped back into Aphelios’ hand. It immediately blossomed into a gun unlike any Kayn had seen before. With an enormous spherical barrel, it glowed an innocent looking lilac, but the entire thing was vibrating with power. Kayn watched as Aphelios tossed the entire rifle, one handed, into the air to meet the rod that had once been the sickle. The fourth descended, landing neatly in Aphelios’ palm before turning into the most enormous silver rocket launcher Kayn had ever seen one man wield. Just looking at one end told him this thing had the power to launch multiple missiles in one shot – it was certainly a two-hand affair. Yet Aphelios wasn’t done surprising them. He exchanged the purple gun for a spinning blue chakram before slotting the rocket launcher atop the chakram. The two coloured lights blurred and then reformed into…

“Is that a fucking turret?” Kayn exclaimed, unable to take any more of this excitement. This was beyond anything he’d seen in the Imperial arsenals the universe over. How had the Tagari been hiding this from him for so long? Or why had Aphelios genius weapon-smith of a sister hid this from him for so long? It was compact, it was versatile, it was adaptable… Holy shit, he loved a beautiful tool of mass destruction and this… this truly took the biscuit.

“It is a turret,” Aphelios confirmed, looking rather delighted with Kayn’s evident awe, “Each weapon can be combined with each other to adapt to changing circumstances.”

“That’s…. They’re gorgeous,” Kayn marveled, “So unpredictable. So deadly… You must be a terror to your enemies.”

“I like to think so,” Aphelios said with a small smile, “I have certainly changed the face of a few battlefields.”

 **“As have I,”** Rhaast reminded him, clearly not impressed as Kayn swooned over these new weapons, **“Aren’t you forgetting somebody?”**

“Well maybe we can have a spar sometime,” Kayn suggested, ignoring Rhaast completely, “If you don’t mind extending your stay a little longer.”

Aphelios’ smile widened. Stars above, he had a nice smile. Made all the nicer by the glitter of Ora in his plump bottom lip. Kayn wondered for a moment how the combination of skin and Ora might taste, but hastily reigned his thoughts back in as Aphelios replied:

“Well, if it doesn’t take up too much of your time, I’d be delighted to. I currently don’t have anywhere to rush.”

Yes! For the sake of his dignity, Kayn tried not to show how delighted that made him.

“Though I’m sure I’ve never faced anyone quite as talented as an Ordinal like you,” Aphelios added, “Or someone who wears his Ora-augments with such strength and confidence.”

Ok.

Kayn _needed_ to spend more time with this man.

The compliments were just icing upon the cake at this point. However, his desire to get to know Aphelios had graduated from an idle fancy, to a want, all the way to a burning need that had to be addressed.

“Well, why don’t I show you about the ship?” he suggested, “It has some of the best training facilities with small crews in mind. Plus, if you’re going to be sticking around for a while, might I suggest you take one of the guest quarters, just for a change of scenery?”

“Thank you, Kayn,” Aphelios replied, “I’ll be bringing my weapons with me, if you don’t mind. In case this turns out all too good to be true.”

“Not at all,” Kayn assured him, “That’s only sensible after all. Now please, follow me. This hangar gets absolutely freezing if you’re not careful.”

So Aphelios didn’t entirely trust him. That was only sensible, considering how Kayn had been considering slaughtering him to take his ship. He was clearly confident enough in his ability as a fighter though to take him on one on one if things went wrong. The fact he’d made a point about bringing those beautiful weapons with him, only proved that he was ready to fight back if needs be. Honestly, without Rhaast there, Kayn didn’t know which of them would win in one-on-one battle. Aphelios’ arsenal was so malleable and tricksy that it would easily outclass standard Imperial fare. But with Rhaast? Aphelios’ weapons may be gorgeous but they weren’t alive. That had to count for something. Whatever the case, Kayn had no plan to hurt a single hair on this man’s ora-augmented head. Sure, he might scrape him up a bit in their spar, but he wanted Aphelios alive. He wanted him here, talking, training, smiling, complimenting him on his strength and confidence and perhaps later his dashing good looks. Whatever he was going to learn about the Tagari had already been eclipsed by those weapons and that ship. He already knew he was going to draw out Aphelios’ stay as long as possible. He wanted this man.

And what the Future Emperor of the Universe wanted, the Future Emperor of the Universe got.


	2. The Tagari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After giving him a tour of the ship, Kayn is eager to learn more about this beautiful stranger that has come aboard his ship. Yet even Aphelios' stunning looks, and fantastical weaponry, can't prepare the Ordinal for what he's about to discover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings for this Chapter!  
> This chapter features a backstory mentioning the following: Body Modification/Body Horror, Abuse of Authority, Abuse of Military Authority, Loss of Home and Family, Genocide.

Admittedly, it was hard to make the ship sound interesting after three months of living there alone. Kayn skipped over most of the rooms he never touched – he had machines to deal with such trifling concerns as engineering, cleaning and maintenance. He immediately took Aphelios back up to the floor where everything important happened, as far as he was concerned. The Winged Glory had admittedly looked more inviting when first he’d stepped aboard the loaned ship. For the sake of fuel, and the fact he just wasn’t using most of it right now, he had turned a lot of the lights, heating and other functionality off. Thankfully the Captain’s quarters and the crews’ cabins were all on one circuit, otherwise Aphelios would be better off sleeping in his tiny vessel. Kayn went with the most important rooms first. He showed Aphelios the bridge, which was still displaying the view out into space across the main screen. He did his best to big up the Imperial technology of yesteryear, very aware that this ship was at least ten years old by now. The orange trim was certainly a bit dated, and the bucket style seats were so last decade. They were however comfortable, he pointed out, and good for movie marathons if you were that way inclined. The view screen and bridge-wide sound system made for a very good cinema experience.

 **“We never did finish ‘Orbital Lovers’,”** Rhaast reminded him as he spoke, **“I wanted to see if they died slowly and painfully, drowning in their lovelorn misery.”**

Kayn thought very hard ‘shutting up’ thoughts in the scythe’s direction, hoping he would get the message. Besides, no one was going to die painfully in a romcom. That wasn’t how those worked! He did his best to ignore Rhaast’s commentary as he led Aphelios around the living quarters. He’d been talking to no one except Rhaast for the last three months, surely the scythe could understand that now was not the time. Especially as Aphelios was proving a far politer participant in conversation than the weapon ever had. He had nodded appreciatively as Kayn showed him where he could be staying – the First Officer’s room, and even made impressed noises as he was shown the capability of the bridge’s various functions. He must have been on bigger ships before, so Kayn couldn’t imagine it was that exciting. However he was civil enough to pretend this was exciting, which he appreciated.

“This is a lot of ship for one person,” Aphelios commented as Kayn showed him the access panel for the kitchens. The joy of automated cooking is you never had to go in where the food was being prepared. As long as the machines were stocked you could order from the screen like in a restaurant and then the food would be set out ready. Of course Kayn had his own snack cupboard but that wasn’t exactly part of the tour.

“This is what they had available for me on short notice,” he explained, “I needed a vessel capable of comfortably accommodating at least two humans. Perhaps a few more if I managed to take prisoners. My personal cruiser can hold upwards of a hundred crew members, and needs at least twenty for full maintenance. That would have been over kill for such a small mission so I took what I could get.”

“I’m not slowing down your mission, am I?” Aphelios asked as Kayn ordered them a tray of tea and biscuits.

“Oh no,” Kayn assured him, “I’m currently waiting on both my objectives. One is a matter of reconnaissance – the information will get here when it can, I’ve hurried my contacts to the best of my ability. However this isn’t exactly easy research.”

Now Aphelios looked genuinely interested.

“What are you researching?” He was momentarily distracted by the hatch to the kitchen opening. A pair of robotic hands holding a bright orange tea tray placed the item on the semi-circular serving area. Kayn picked it up with one hand, the weight of the teapot, mugs, sugar, biscuits and milk nothing to his Ora-enhanced arm. Aphelios clearly noticed, his eyes widening a little as Kayn expertly balanced the tray as they made their way to the staff lounge.

“Ora,” Kayn told him, “The Empire is very hush-hush about it. Foolish fear of a resource that they can’t control in its entirety. The study of it is thoroughly lacking even though people are adding to their bodies when possible. I had a contact lined up from outside the Empire, she would’ve told me a great deal about her people’s study of Ora. However then she got kidnapped by some blasted space pirates, setting me back to the start again!”

Rhaast chuckled in his head. Ok what he said may not be entirely factual. But Aphelios didn’t really need to know the whole truth, right? Right. Sensors detecting their presence, the lights in the staff lounge burst on with their arrival. Part relaxation zone, part entertainment centre, Kayn rather liked the more outdated design for these rooms. Most lounges felt a bit sterile these days, all clean white surfaces, leather-effect seats, with only the occasional strip of neon or potted plant to soften the gleam. The recreation area on the Winged Glory however was fun and colourful. Despite being glaringly orange, the carpeting reminded him of spaceport bowling alleys or lasershot ranges. The seating was all round, either bucket or egg shaped, and centred around floating coffee tables, laden with a decade’s worth of old books and magazines. There was a free arcade to one side, filled with a history of old high scores from the doubtless hundreds who had used this ship in the past. He set the tea tray between an art book of alien rainforests and a copy of the “Hunks and Hotrods” desk calendar from eight years ago, before inviting Aphelios to sit down.

“It seems very odd to me that the Empire would be so shy of Ora,” Aphelios commented as he took the cup of tea offered to him, “Or anyone really. Though perhaps that’s because I’m from a culture that was founded around it. Ora is the lifeblood of the universe, it connects all of us, everyone, regardless of our affiliation. There’s no need to be scared of Ora, merely what an individual could do with the assistance it provides.”

 **“Well, well,”** Rhaast commented from where he’d been leant against an adjacent chair, **“This could be interesting.”**

Kayn’s heart had leapt at his guest’s words. A culture formed around Ora! Had he just hit the jackpot?! He moved the art book aside to reveal a computer screen built into the coffee table.

“I know I’m not your contact,” Aphelios continued, “But maybe we could help each other? I don’t know exactly what you want to know about Ora, but I can always send messages back to my sister if I don’t have the information stored with me. I would like to pay back your assistance with this vehicle registration after all and maybe…maybe we can aid each other with both our missions.”

“That sounds perfect,” Kayn replied, setting his tea briefly down to he could set up a recording of everything that was being said here.

“I won’t lie to you; it may take a bit of time to get your vehicle registration paperwork through. I sent out a request whilst you were docking, but bureaucracy has a way of making things needlessly complicated. Once I had a leave form declined because the system didn’t believe I didn’t have a surname. Despite having dozens of successful leave forms submitted before. One ‘update in the system’ meant by the time I convinced them I was a real person; the application window ran out. Never did get that leave.”

Aphelios smiled into his mug. It was a small shy smile, immensely cute, but not without a far share of nervousness.

“I guess that’s one thing that’s constant universe-wide,” he replied, “Sometimes I think they’re trying to test our patience as much as our ability to remember a million different numbers.”

“Exactly,” Kayn sighed, “You would think computers would be able to do it all automatically by now. But no, they give us the means but decide they don’t trust it. We have to fill out everything ourselves! You wouldn’t believe how much paperwork there is for a battle that takes all of two minutes. ”

“I was never high up enough to have to fill out the paperwork around every mission,” Aphelios replied, “But I used to get my sister to help me when I had to update my registration forms. She always said that she’d fight the numbers whilst I sorted out the bad guys.”

His sister sounded fun to be around. She was the one he’d offered to contact about Ora, wasn’t she? Did that mean she was back on Tagari and they’d been communicating back and forth?

There was a moment of quiet in which they both sipped at their tea. Kayn desperately wanted to say more, his three months of isolation swiftly catching up to him. He had so many questions – about the Tagari, about what they could do with Ora, what Aphelios’ mission even was. What had he been doing for the past two years so far away from home? However, regardless of his lack of diplomatic training, Kayn knew that rushing a guest never produced the best results. This had to be a very strange experience for Aphelios overall – especially if he’d spent so much time alone recently too. Kayn couldn’t imagine being on a solo mission for two years. Three months were already trying his sanity! Who knows what he’d be like after a year, let alone two!

**“Let’s find out together. I do love to watch you suffer.”**

How about you go fuck yourself Rhaast?

**“Spoilsport.”**

Kayn helped himself to a biscuit as Aphelios seemed to contemplate the depths of his mug. After a few more minutes of silence, the Tagari murmured:

“Sorry, I’m no good at small talk. I’ve only had Alune to speak to for the past two years and…well, she tends to lead the conversation.”

Was that his sister? He had addressed an Alune when Kayn had first opened up communications with him.

“That’s ok,” Kayn told him, “Talk as much or as little as you’d like. I can tell you more about the Empire, or myself, if you’d like. Or you could share what you’d like about the Tagari.”

Aphelios clearly thought over this for a moment before asking:

“You’ve truly never heard of us?”

Kayn shook his head.

“Got access to the Imperial Archives from here. Not a single mention of the Tagari, unless it’s locked behind a level of access I don’t have. I think only the Emperor and select Ambassadors have more info than I do. ”

He could probably get Jarvan to make a search for him if he asked nicely. Kayn internally jotted that down as something to do next time he was alone with his private terminal. Whilst he hadn’t made any searches yet. the ship’s computer should have brought up anything to do with the Tagari as soon as it heard the word over their communications. The fact it hadn’t even tried indicated that the name was as foreign to it as it was to Kayn.

“I suppose we are very far away,” Aphelios mused, “But…I feel like I would be misrepresenting my people if I didn’t try to make them seem important enough to be known.”

“They already sound important to me,” Kayn replied, “I mean, every culture is important, but not many can say they were formed about existence of Ora.”

He let out a little gasp of realisation.

“Let’s make them their own entry. Your info, my access, we can make the Tagari known.”

Aphelios sat up a little straighter even as his smile faded from his face.

“Your eagerness is very kind,” he told Kayn, “But, well, you might want to hear about it first. ”

It sounded like he was about to get an explanation of sorts. After hitting record on the table monitor, Kayn settled back in his chair with his drink, ready to listen the best he could. Aphelios took another sip of his tea, gaze flicking from Kayn back to the dark liquid.

“If you were using trade routes as a rough map, you’d be able find Tagari by traveling twenty light years off the Deep-Reaches White route, taking a left at the Planetary Inn Spaceport at V-Pulsar and then keeping going until you found a solar system orbiting a deep purple star. Tagari was the fourth planet closest to that star with a day of about thirty trade standard hours and a year of four hundred trade standard days.”

As he spoke Aphelios had gestured with his free hand as if giving Kayn directions to the nearest dry cleaners. Kayn couldn’t help but notice he was using a lot of past tense verbs in his explanation. The past tense never boded well for planets...

Aphelios wrapped the hand that was giving directions back around his mug, folding his fingers around the entirety of the drink as if trying to take in its warmth.

“According to our records,” he continued, “We didn’t know the Empire or the Syndicate existed until just over a hundred trade standard years ago. That was only because some of our scouts ventured out further than usual. They never came looking for us. We live on the only planet in our system to support organic life so perhaps the forces that be thought every planetoid in that area dead.”

Rhaast was being unusually quiet. Was he listening as attentively as Kayn was? Kayn was surprised he had the patience. So much for killing Aphelios or blowing up his ship.

“Or perhaps we were just too far away,” Aphelios continued, “We however knew we weren’t alone in the universe, or even our own galaxy. We have the Ora to thank for that.”

Kayn sat up a little straighter in his chair as Aphelios another took a sip of his tea.

“Tagari had a single moon,” Aphelios said, his voice growing softer, sadder with every syllable, “They say it was once part of the planet itself, due to the natural abundance of Ora on both. Yet it was especially concentrated on the moon – so much so that it would light up with visible golden veins every sunrise and sunset. Upon inspection, geologists confirmed that Tagari was formed of layers upon layers of Ora, compacted between the other elements necessary to create a proper world. This is particularly evident from the veins on the moon which displayed this layering, like lines in an agate crystal, or coloured pages in a closed book.”

A planet made of compacted Ora? How much Ora was that?! No wonder the Syndicate took an interest in Tagari once they found it! Hell, Kayn was now disappointed he didn’t get there first!

“Naturally, the Tagari people evolved with a close relationship to the Ora in their home,” Aphelios stated, “The moon, with its gold and silver radiance, was once worshipped like a deity, but once we got there and realised it was a space rock, that devotion turned a reverence to the gifts it gave us. There were those amongst the Tagari, those born in special circumstances, that could use the Ora as a…connection of sorts. Like the wires and signals of a communication device, they could follow it throughout the universe. Sense where others had also connected to its radiance. Communicate with them too. That’s how we knew we weren’t alone. How we made what alliance we had. My twin sister, Alune, is one of such people. She has a remarkable affinity for Ora, it is like clay in her hands and…”

He appeared to catch himself, as if worried he’d gotten distracted.

“Anyway, with that much Ora, it must have been inevitable that we’d draw attention eventually,” he said, his voice almost a whisper now, “Because one day, we – the Tagari army – were sent to investigate foreign ships patrolling our territory. We discovered that the Syndicate was surveying our holy moon, and chased them off. For a while, we thought that was it, then one of our temples on the moon collapsed from a secret underground mining operation the Syndicate had left behind there. That was swiftly dismantled, but some of the moon’s Ora veined rock had already been taken away. They deployed me, and three others, to go get it back.”

So Aphelios was looking for stolen Ora that should be on his people’s sacred moon. That made sense as to why he was out here by himself so far away from home. Yet he’d been searching for two years? Surely there was a point when his superior officers realised the moon rock was lost for good?

“The rest I only know because Alune contacted me before she got evacuated. I cannot tell how accurate it is,” Aphelios confessed, “I had already taken a lift through hyperspace, I was too far away to see, too far away to return. I wasn’t asked to re-join my people so I’m still on the same mission as before but…”

He sighed deeply. Part of his fringe fell in his face as he stared into his mug.

“The Syndicate, they came back with industrial asteroid-mining vessels,” he stated, “Over fifty they think, backed by a corporate armada. Not just for the moon, but for our whole planet. We were hopelessly out matched and the Elders ordered an immediate evacuation.”

“They destroyed your planet?!” Kayn exclaimed, “For the Ora?”

Admittedly he’d be tempted to steal some of it, perhaps from the moon or a less occupied area like the Syndicate had. Yet even he wouldn’t have wanted to wipe out the Tagari in the process – not when it was so clear that these people knew what they were doing with said Ora. Who knew what knowledge and technology they would have to impart? Yet the Syndicate had got together to bulldoze the whole planet and sift through the rubble? Ok he’d destroyed maybe a moon or two in his life, but that was frankly barbaric!

Aphelios merely nodded, his face still ever so impassive despite the evident sadness in his voice.

“Alune tells me that she is on the Tagari mothership with those that got away. She doesn’t know where she is. They have her continually searching for Ora-rich worlds, she’s been confined to a single set of rooms to keep her attention completely focused. She doesn’t even know how many survived, but she can’t feel anyone else amidst the stars. She thinks there might just be the one mothership, maybe a few smaller craft got away. All she knows for certain is that the planet Tagari is no more, and it is the job of the Tagari people to now carry on its memory. As for me, I’ve been on my own for the past two years, searching. Looking for what’s left of our moon. Looking for the mothership. Looking for any sign of my people. Occasionally looking for revenge. I take bounties to support myself – especially when it comes to killing Syndicate members.”

He took a large gulp of his drink before glancing up at Kayn.

“I learned at port that augmentation is frowned upon in the Empire, so have mostly been sticking to the outskirts, that may be why I haven’t found anything yet. I just want to find the Tagari, I don’t want any trouble…Though having augments clearly hasn’t been a problem for you.”

“People don’t like to challenge my authority,” Kayn shrugged, “I didn’t go hard on the augments until I had the power to silence any objections. If Ora is held in such reverence by the Tagari, I’m guessing augments are more normal?”

“To an extent,” Aphelios agreed, “Alune would have me say that I am a slight exception to what ‘normal’ is when it comes to implements and augments. Anyone who could afford and needed them, had them, but…”

He gently ran a hand over the Ora plating on his head.

“Not to the extent I did.”

There was silence for a moment whilst Aphelios drank and Kayn tried to find the least intimidating way to ask what he meant by that. This was all so much to take in. Aphelios was alone. More alone than anyone Kayn had encountered before. So far from a home that had now been destroyed, by himself, with no idea how many had survived and where those survivors were now. Kayn couldn’t imagine how big and empty the universe must feel to one so untethered from a cause. He’d known his fair share of loss, but… this was staggering. Thank goodness Aphelios had his sister to communicate with, otherwise, well, he had her and that was main thing. Yet this didn’t seem to be the extent of Aphelios’ extraordinary experience, judging by the way he was touching his augments. People didn’t replace so much of their body with Ora, no one took that much surgical risk, without being desperate for some change. That must have happened before Aphelios left home, before the Tagari were destroyed and took their Ora-expertise with them. But why did he have so many? Not knowing was simply not an option. He’d never met another man quite as augmented as he was, and Aphelios was possibly more so, if he had any under his clothing. Rather than demand answers right away, Kayn recalled the one thing that Aphelios seemed to enjoy talking about in that sad story. He clearly loved his sister. Perhaps that was his way in?

“Does your sister have them too? You said she was very gifted with Ora; did she use it on herself?”

Aphelios nodded, a slight smile twitching at his lips.

“Alune has cerebral augments like mine. She designed them in fact. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to do that to me. She could do things with Ora that rivalled even the most experienced of crafts-persons. She made my weapons, many of my more complex augments, the latter of which I asked for, the weapons were a surprise. I always felt like she saw something in Ora that no one else could, like she knew its grain, the direction it wanted to flow, something like that. The Elders always said she was gifted because we were born on the moon itself, in the holiest of temples. Our mother went on a pilgrimage without telling anyone she was pregnant and…we happened. The fact we were born there made the Elders watch us constantly growing up. They took legal ownership after our mother passed away. We were an investment to them. Though…for the longest time it seemed only Alune was going to make it pay off.”

Kayn wanted to ask what happened to their mother, but that really wasn’t something you asked someone after you just met them. Though Aphelios was very forthcoming with his life’s story. Kayn wondered if he’d ever spoken to anyone about this. Or when he’d last spoken to anyone at all.

“Alune was always very clever for her age, spiritually and technically brilliant. Far beyond me in everything but physical ability. It was only due to her insistence that they didn’t ditch me back in the military orphanage and just keep her. The Elders certainly made it seem that way. At first, I didn’t understand why the universe had given her all these amazing talents and not me. Why didn’t the Ora give me anything? However over time, I came to accept that Alune was the special one and I was just happy to be her brother. Then…”

Aphelios took a deep breath then sighed.

“Then I had my first augment, just a simple muscle enhancement, standard military issue. But during the procedure, which Alune organised, we discovered I did have an Ora-related talent after all.”

“What was that?” Kayn asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“Ora interfaces with my body much easier than most,” Aphelios explained, “Its able to naturally fuse with my nervous system, meaning by implementing Ora in specific locations, I can change what I’m able to feel. Or I would, if it was my decision. Alune got excited and reported this to the Elders and… the Elders told her to push it as far as it can go. Put me in the lab and see how far she could push the limits of human endurance. She protested, but we didn’t get a choice in that matter. The prospect of being used like that was frightening, but I’d been raised as a soldier, you weren’t supposed to show fear. I agreed to become an experiment so she wouldn’t get in trouble, and maybe, maybe it was finally my time to be useful to somebody. To be worth the investment in my upbringing.”

Oh… That didn’t sound good. Kayn watched as Aphelios removed one of his gloves. His hand was lined in Ora, his fingers capped off in golden plates, wires of plaited Ora marking where his bones would be, were they still there?

“I can’t feel pain,” Aphelios stated, putting his glove back on, “Texture, temperature, movement in the air…those are all significantly dulled. I don’t feel the effects of exhaustion upon my body. I can keep fighting no matter the cost to my health. My reflexes are also greatly improved. Of course, there are some exceptions to all of this – the modifications weren’t flawless. In very specific circumstances, those feelings are amplified, more intense than they should be instead of reduced, but… those circumstances rarely happen.”

He mumbled the last part as if he wished to gloss over that fact very quickly. Kayn however was still reeling at the extent to which Ora had warped Aphelios’ body. Heightened reflexes, no pain…

“You’re a super soldier,” he commented, awe evident in his voice.

Aphelios paused for a moment, glancing at Kayn briefly through his fringe before back at his drink. His expression hadn’t changed but Kayn could sense an awkwardness as he shifted in his chair.

“That’s a very kind way of putting it,” Aphelios replied, “Lab-rat…was what my troop preferred. Among other less repeatable things. I… I’m sorry for going on like this… I don’t get to talk very much. I must have talked your ears off; I can only apologise.”

“There’s no need to apologise,” Kayn told him, “I mean, I asked, didn’t I? I mean, three months is nothing compared to what you’ve been through, but I haven’t had any to talk to for a while either. It’s honestly nice just to listen to another talk.”

 **“Oh please,”** Rhaast commented, **“You barely listen to me.”**

That was because he spoke a load of rubbish. Aphelios was genuinely interesting unlike a certain someone.

“Thank you,” Aphelios said, that little smile just about lifting his lips, “For listening. It felt kind of good to be someone worth listening to.”

“Whenever you want to talk, I’m here,” Kayn insisted, “You’re extraordinary, I mean, you and your experiences are something very special. You deserve to be heard.”

It might just be the coloured lighting in the lounge, but Kayn was sure he saw a little pink rose to Aphelios’ cheeks.

“That’s…very kind of you,” Aphelios managed, that note of anxiety back in his voice. He shifted a little in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with such praise. Kayn hastily cast about for a new topic of conversation so he didn’t have to dwell on it.

“Ah, look at the time,” Kayn proclaimed, glancing at the screen on the table, “Have you had dinner already?”

“No?” Aphelios replied, sounding a little taken-aback, “What…what do you have?”

“Anything you fancy,” Kayn promised, grinning as he offered Aphelios a hand to help him out of his egg chair. Was it just his imagination, or had Aphelios’ grip lingered a little longer than necessary once he was out of the chair? Whatever the case, Kayn was ready to wow him with a whole robotic kitchen’s worth of culinary delights. Maybe that wasn’t going to fill the hole in his heart from the misfortune the universe had thrown at him, but maybe, just maybe, if Kayn spoiled him enough Aphelios might have this stay as a happy moment to look back on. Or maybe he’d be persuaded stay longer… Whatever the case, the kitchen on the Winged Glory had yet to disappoint.

After three months of living alone with a sentient scythe, there were some things Kayn was going to need to readjust to now he had company on board. For instance, he had to set specific meal times and not just help himself to snacks whenever. Of course there was nothing stopping him raiding the plentiful supplies he’d brought with him. However, he had a reputation to uphold in front of Aphelios, and casually snacking on junk food all the time wouldn’t give off the best impression. Neither would going around the ship in his sweatpants. He decided to put those away for now and keep to his uniform. Thankfully he’d designed the outfit himself so there was no danger of him not looking good in it. However sometimes you just wanted to chill and make the least effort possible. Thus, the sweatpants. Honestly it wasn’t a steep price to finally get some company. He just had to act like a normal human being for a bit. Starting with dressing properly and eating well.

Also, normal human beings tended not to bring their scythe into the showers with them.

The following day after Aphelios’ arrival, Kayn went to have his customary morning shower. Yet as he took his towel, washbag and Rhaast to the staff showers, he heard there was already water running in there. His breath caught in his throat when he realised what this must mean. He hadn’t heard from Aphelios during the night, which meant his guest must have either slept soundly, or at least kept to his room during the rest period. Kayn had set the ship’s computer to alert him if Aphelios started roaming the ship during the night. It seemed nothing of the sort had happened, for Aphelios must have gone straight from his room to where Kayn had shown him the showers were located. That only left him with the question as to whether Kayn was allowed to go in there whilst Aphelios was washing up. They were communal showers, but after being alone for two years, maybe the Tagari wouldn’t like being interrupted.

 **“What are you doing?”** asked Rhaast as Kayn leant him against the wall beside a nearby broom closet.

“You don’t need to come in there,” Kayn told him, “Aphelios might think we’re there to murder him whilst he’s nude. Besides, it would be inappropriate.”

 **“But when do I get washed?”** Rhaast replied, **“Don’t act like I’ve never seen a naked human before.”**

“Later,” Kayn hissed, “This isn’t about you, it’s about our guest.”

 **“Your guest,”** Rhaast reminded him.

Kayn decided to ignore him and merely leave him a few feet away from the shower room. He heard dark muttering in the corner of his mind as he gently knocked on the door.

“Hello?” came a muffled call from within.

“Do you mind if I come join you?” Kayn asked, speaking a little louder to account for the few inches of solid metal between them, “I could do with a shower too.”

“I don’t mind,” Aphelios called back, “No different to the barracks at home.”

Oh yes, Aphelios was a military type too. He’d be used to shared showers. Throwing caution to the wind, Kayn entered the shower room, already peeling off his pyjamas. He left them in a basket in the changing area, noting that Aphelios’ regular attire – both outer garb and inner mesh, were placed in an identical basket on the shelf below. Glancing at himself in the mirror, Kayn gave himself an easy smile before picking up a towel and striding straight in to the wet room fully bare.

“Good morning,” Aphelios said, as he entered.

“Morning,” Kayn replied. He tried to spot Aphelios but was instantly greeted by a thick cloud of steam, so hot that it immediately condensed against the Ora plating of his arm and eyepatch. The room was as hot as a sauna, though much much wetter as a stream of piping hot water ran from one shower head towards the drain at the centre of the room. There were no dividers or screens in the room, meaning wherever Kayn stood they were bound to get a glimpse of each other. He was about to comment on why Aphelios wanted the temperature up so high before remembering what he’d told him yesterday. Aphelios could barely feel temperature – if he wanted to get warm, he’d need to crank the heat up to the max. To avoid getting his feet scalded, Kayn chose a showerhead on the opposite side of the room. He set his washbag down on the shelf shielded from the spray and hung his towel on the rail beside it. 

“Did you sleep well?” Kayn asked as he let his plait out of its bindings.

“Yes, thank you. Though having so much room to move about in took a little getting used to.”

Hair freed, Kayn turned on the tap and turned to douse himself in warm water that perhaps wasn’t as scalding as what Aphelios was currently treating himself to. As he turned to douse his hair at the back, he spotted the shape of Aphelios through the steam.

“If it gets too much, I won’t take offense if you return to your sh…“ Kayn’s voice tailed off to a whisper as Aphelios stepped back through the spray, bending over to pick up a small purple bag off the floor.

He’d been right.

There was more Ora under Aphelios’ clothing. So much more. Kayn couldn’t stop himself staring as Aphelios knelt on the tile to rummage through his things. First things first, he realised, there was no denying that Aphelios was so attractive, it should be illegal. If Kayn was a lawmaker and not an Ordinal, he would absolutely have to create some law to detain Aphelios for dangerous levels of attractiveness. Under his own supervision of course, for the safety of everyone involved. However, because he couldn’t whisk Aphelios aside for his own personal pleasure, he just had to resort to staring at him in the shower. Thankfully Aphelios was too busy rummaging to notice Kayn’s gawking at him. And wow was there was so much to gawk at. Aphelios had a physique no doubt sculpted from years of military training, all lean muscle with just a hint of softness around his thighs, hips and his very cute backside. As his gaze travelled upwards, Kayn instantly zoned in on the long line of Ora plates and delicate wires extending up Aphelios’ back, each piece marking out where a link in his spine would be. The solid plates were imbedded with tiny blue lights akin to those on Aphelios’ scalp, meaning he glittered faintly in the steam with every movement of his body. A looping network of coiling wires extended from his spine to each of his shoulder blades. The curvature of the metal, and the way it extended down Aphelios’ back and sides, getting progressively shorter as it neared the central spinal column, made Kayn think of cherubic wings. The universe had presented him an angel in ivory and gold – if you believed in such silly things as angels of course. Which Kayn didn’t. Because he wasn’t silly. But in the theoretical world where angels did exist, they would look like Aphelios did right now. Perhaps when he became Emperor he could make ‘Angel’ an official title and grant it to Aphelios? Anyway! Aside from his spinal cord, most of his other augments appeared to be around his joints. Kayn could make out the thick banding around his knees and elbows, the latter also being plated at the points, leading him to believe that Aphelios might also be augmented at the kneecaps. The thick bands of swirling metal at his ankles made Aphelios look like he was wearing a particularly ornate set of sandals.

“Ah, there it is,” Aphelios exclaimed. He held up a disposable razor with an air of triumph about him. Getting to his feet, he clutched the implement to him like a prize, clearly happy with the results of his search. Kayn however was too busy staring at the glitter of gold and blue in his back to think what this might mean. He realised what was happening a moment too late. Aphelios had already turned around.

“Oh,” Aphelios managed as their eyes met. Kayn instantly grabbed himself by the hair, trying to pretend he was washing it and not blatantly ogling his guest. He then realised he hadn’t even added shampoo yet. Well, shit. How did he turn this around? What did you say after someone caught you checking out their backside? What did you do without making this even more awkward than it already was? It didn’t help that Aphelios had just given him a whole new view take in. His front side was perhaps even more delightful than the back. That defined muscular torso, the little Ora piercings in his nipples, the way his hair curled in the heat, the little battle scars on his arms, the fact that Kayn had definitely spotted Ora between those soft unmarked thighs…

“I’m sorry.”

Kayn blinked.

Wait, what?

Aphelios was apologising to him?

“I’m sorry,” Aphelios murmured, retreating a little towards his shower head, “It’s a bit much isn’t it...my back I mean. Or all of it I guess. Not very nice to look at.”

“No, no!” Kayn replied before he could stop himself, “No, not at all!”

Aphelios stared at him like he was some sort of weird three-headed alien. (It was always the three headed ones you had to look out for.) Kayn noticed he had folded his hands together in front of his crotch. Should he be doing the same? Aphelios had already seen everything he had to offer after all.

“You…you don’t have to be nice because I’m your guest,” Aphelios told him, “I can see the shock on your face. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

Ah damn it all! Aphelios had taken his staring completely the wrong way! Now Kayn had to either let him stew in whatever insecurity he had, or admit to being a pervert. Yet he couldn’t let Aphelios just stand there thinking his body was nothing short of gorgeous! Just look at him! Every part of him was perfect from the topmost curls of his fringe down to the purple polish on his toenails. But how did he explain that without sounding weird? Scaring Aphelios off for being overly-eager was almost as bad as scaring him off by being disgusted. How could he let know Aphelios he was beautiful without terrifying him back into the furthest reaches of space? Think Kayn think! How to make Aphelios feel both welcome and good about himself… Subtly was the key to success here. Yet the longer he dithered and thought about it, the worse this was going to get. He had no clue Aphelios was going to be so insecure once he’d taken his clothes off but he had to do, say, something!

“No, honestly, that’s not it,” Kayn insisted, his voice echoing a little off the tile, “I swear. I’m not shocked because there’s anything wrong with you. I’m shocked because, well, you’re… you’re gorgeous as f-! I mean you’re really hot, I mean, beautiful I mean… _fuck._ ”

The razer clattered to the floor as Aphelios covered his mouth with one hand, going pinker than a sock on post-battle wash day.

“Really? I…” he looked momentarily lost for words before trying again, sounding incredibly flustered.

“Are you sure? I mean…usually people say I’m disgusting, I mean, look at me…”

He waved at the various augments and scars covering his body. It was during this gesture that Kayn noticed something about Aphelios’ body he’d previous glossed over in excitement at the sheer amount of Ora he possessed. Aphelios had more scars than he first realised. The largest of which stretched across Aphelios’ chest each neatly lining the base of his pectorals. They looked old, a little faded with time, but far more defined than the criss-cross of what Kayn had assumed to be battle scars. Aphelios had clearly seen more than his fair share of conflict. As he moved the light caught on a number of thin silvery stripes across his arms and sides, not dissimilar to the marks Kayn bore from Syndicate laser-blades. There was a particular nasty looking one on his outer thigh that was still a little splotchy pink. That looked like a wound from taking blast-fire, if Kayn’s own experience was anything to go by.

“No, no, you’re not disgusting at all,” Kayn assured him, “Far from it. I’ve…never seen someone quite like you. Your Ora only enhances your natural beauty, like a trim of gold on an already exquisite weapon. Not that I think you’re a weapon, it’s…it’s a metaphor.”

He had already failed horribly at being discreet. Subtlety was overrated anyway! It was frankly a crime that Aphelios could’ve gone this long without being made aware of his beauty. And someone had dared insult this wonder?

“Whoever told you you’re disgusting must have been an absolute fool!” he continued in earnest, “A blind worthless fool who deserves to have their every worldly possession obliterated before their eyes before they’re cast out into the cold unforgiving depths of space! And in those split seconds before every atom of their body is frozen to agonizing oblivion, I hope they look back upon their poor life choices and cry with regret at dismissing someone so utterly divine!”

He raised one fist as if cursing this imaginary idiot to hell and back. Aphelios merely stared at him for a moment before letting out a nervous little laugh. The noise was so cute it was frankly unfair.

“No one has…ever said that about me,” he replied, “I mean. Not just the dying in the depths of space part. That I look nice, divine even. That’s a lot to take in, honestly, and I…. I…truly didn’t expect any of it.”

As if trying to cover his own awkwardness, he bent down to pick his razer up off the floor.

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable,” Kayn said, realising he probably should have opened with that, “I shouldn’t have stared. You were my guest, it was inappropriate, and I can arrange to bathe separate in the –“

He promptly stopped talking as Aphelios stood back up. What had shut him up was not the movement however. It was the fact that Aphelios was now smiling.

“No, it’s ok,” Aphelios said gently, “I mean, yes, it was inappropriate, but…”

He seemed to struggle with his words for a moment.

“You didn’t mean anything malicious by it so…I think I’ll be ok doing this again, using the communal showers I mean This was just a lot more than I was expecting to deal with this morning. So, if it’s alright with you, Ordinal, I’d like to go back to my ship. Just for a little while, to compose myself.”

Ah he’d really fucked up, hadn’t he? He was back to being ‘Ordinal’ again.

“Of course,” Kayn told him, “Take what time you need.”

He merely watched as Aphelios picked up his wash bag and put the razer back inside. Realising it might look like he was staring again, he turned to pick up his shampoo. He came to get clean, might as well actually do that! As he began to rub suds into his hair, he heard Aphelios walk across the room back to the changing area. Just as he thought Aphelios was gone, Kayn heard a small cough from the entrance way.

“Ord, I mean, Kayn?”

“Yes?” Kayn turned to see that Aphelios had stuck his head back around the door.

“Thank you,” Aphelios said, still with that small smile, “For the compliments, I mean.”

For some reason, Kayn felt heat rising to his face now.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, before hastily glancing away from those angelic features. He heard Aphelios hum to himself as he disappeared into the changing room. He certainly didn’t seem upset, especially if that smile was anything to go by. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t messed everything up after all.


	3. Close Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kayn is forced to take a phonecall from work, before following up on that promise to spar.

Kayn dried himself off and dressed hastily as his eyepiece reminded him he had a call in fifteen minutes. He could hardly blame himself for forgetting about it, considering the events of the last few days. Calls were regular, guests certainly weren’t. Leaving the staff showers, he plaited his damp hair back into place as he doubled back to pick up Rhaast. Thankfully the scythe was still leaning against the broom closet where he’d left him. As soon as he got within communication-range with the scythe, he expected a head full of anger at being left outside for so long. Instead however, Rhaast sounded rather sly. That was never a good sign.

 **“I saw your guest walking very quickly in the opposite direction,”** Rhaast commented, **“He smelt like fear.”**

Kayn scowled at him. Aphelios wasn’t afraid, was he? If he was scared, he wouldn’t have thanked him for his praise. No, the scythe was clearly making things up. Or perhaps everything smelt like fear to him, he didn’t exactly have a delicate emotional range.

“There was a slight misunderstanding, that’s all,” he told Rhaast, “Everything is going fine.”

 **“Is it now?”** Rhaast commented. Kayn decided to treat that question as rhetorical as he picked up Rhaast and turned around to head off to the bridge. Whilst he could take the call in his room, it certainly wasn’t the most professional means to go about it. Unfortunately with this particular call, he was forced to act with some modicum of respectability. Underlings couldn’t comment when you didn’t perform Imperial procedure to the letter. Those above you however, unfortunately they could.

 **“I’ve been thinking,”** Rhaast proclaimed.

“I hate it when you do that,” Kayn snapped back immediately.

 **“I’ve been thinking,”** Rhaast repeated, a little firmer this time, **“That what I could really do with, is a host that doesn’t feel pain.”**

Kayn stopped in his tracks. Was he suggesting…?

**“One that can’t feel tired, has superior reflexes, one possibly conditioned to follow every little order he’s given. Wouldn’t that be-”**

“Shut. Up.” Kayn growled, turning the scythe so he could glare directly into Rhaast’s one spherical eye. He picked up his pace again, striding angrily towards the bridge as he kept up his venomous stare.

“You. Will. Not. Touch. Him.” Kayn ordered, “You will not even _attempt_ to communicate with him or…or I’ll toss you out into the nearest star! Aphelios is not yours and never will be.”

 **“Then whose is he?”** Rhaast retorted.

“Mine,” Kayn replied fiercely, “He belongs to me…given enough time and consent! If I can’t then, then no one can have him!”

 **“It’s been less than twenty-four hours,”** Rhaast reminded him, sounding faintly amused.

“I don’t need a day to make decisions,” Kayn replied, “I see something extraordinary and I take it for myself. You should know that well by now.”

 **“Oh, are you going to start killing people to claim him too?”** Rhaast asked, clearly catching his drift. Kayn inwardly wished he wouldn’t. Besides, he didn’t have a friend to kill this time because Rhaast had organised that little kafuffle last time!

“Not unless I have to,” Kayn told him, “And unlike a certain someone, I don’t think Aphelios is going to make me.”

The lights burst on as he entered the bridge, momentarily dazzling him. There was a skittering whir as a pair of bright orange roombas disappeared into their nearest service hatches. The ship’s computer greeted Kayn as the cleaning crew made themselves scarce through the walls of the ship, rattling all the way. Yawning slightly, Kayn took the captain’s seat wishing he’d brought breakfast with him. No matter. He put in an order to the kitchen through his seat-terminal for a bacon sandwich before wiping a few stray popcorn kernels off the faded orange leather of the Command Chair. Rhaast was put in his customary position, leant up against the chair, as Kayn smartened himself for the meeting ahead. Adjusting the collar of his coat, he tucked his plait behind him and then straightened up his golden stripes of authority. A quick check told him there was nothing on his face, he was in fact wearing his trousers the right way around, and there was nothing incriminating on the surfaces around him, easily spotted in a video call. If any foolish mistake was going to be made, it wouldn’t be the same as it had been on a previous occasion. He was the epitome of prim, proper and professional. Perfect for a call with the only man who could really demand such attention to detail from him.

 _“Incoming call from Emperor Jarvan the Fourth,”_ proclaimed the ship’s computer, _“Incoming secure visual and audio channel. Receive communications?”_

“Yes,” Kayn told it.

 _“Opening communications with Emperor Jarvan the Fourth,”_ the computer reported, _“In 3…2…1…”_

The view screen stopped showing Kayn the immensity of space and was instead replaced with the image of a large office lit by natural sunlight – something Kayn hadn’t seen in quite some time. The office itself was the size of a small house, Kayn had been there many a time to marvel at its immensity. The office had its own accompanying kitchen and bathroom just because of how much time the Emperor spent in there. The walls were covered in portraits of Emperors of old. However, these were currently obscured by thick blue dust-sheets, visible even through the limited scope of the camera. Jarvan didn’t like looking at the faces of his ancestors. They reminded him too much of the legacy of war and tyranny they had left to him in the shape of the current Empire. J4, as Kayn liked to call him not to his face, was a lot more peaceful than even his own father. While J3 had been building prison camps on desolate moons, J4 was trying to dismantle them. While J3 took orphans from ruined worlds and turned them into child soldiers, J4 was paying reparations to what survivors he could locate. His sense of guilt was definitely fuelling his need for little check-ins now. Kayn was the only one of those child soldiers that Jarvan had actually met, add that to the fact Kayn was now one of his Ordinals, Jarvan had made a lot of effort to befriend and look after him over the years. At first it had been extremely weird, but Kayn had slowly got used to it. Now he counted the new Emperor as a friend, albeit a very naggy friend who was always asking if he’d been writing in his dream journal and whether he’d remembered to hydrate today.

Said friend was now sat in his high-backed wooden chair, looking faintly exhausted as he sipped at a white mug with the words “Universe’s Least Terrible Emperor” written on it in gold permanent marker. His indigo uniform, or at least the double-breasted tailcoat and high-collar shirt Kayn could see, were so pristine you would think he just stepped out of the tailors. The shadows under his eyes however and the faint look of weary disgruntled-ness, showed he had probably just got out of bed. Kayn was operating on Trade Standard time whilst Jarvan was clearly working with the time zone back home, which meant it was much earlier in the morning for him than it was on the Winged Glory.

“Morning, your highness,” Kayn replied as his computer confirmed the connection was secure.

Jarvan clearly did his best not to sigh.

“Morning, Ordinal. How’s space?”

“Big,” Kayn replied, “And full of stars. How’s your office?”

“Big, and full of paperwork,” Jarvan stated, “And bickering officials most of the time. They haven’t started yet thankfully.”

He took another swig of his tea and set the ‘customised’ mug back onto his desk with a solid thunk. This seemed to announce the end of their fake formality, for Jarvan proceeded to groan and lean his head on one hand, elbow on the desk. His circlet of office slipped down over one side of his forehead. He must be having a long week, maybe even a long month…

“Kayn, where even are you right now?”

“Border System…” Kayn paused a moment to check his chair terminal for that relevant information, “RT-57X-62Z. I’m approaching the Spaceport at Drifters’ Edge if you want specifics.”

He knew Jarvan’s computer would turn that jumble of characters into something serviceable in almost an instant. He watched as Jarvan frowned at his screen.

“That’s a long way to go for a bit of research,” Jarvan commented. Scepticism was evident in his tone. The Emperor knew what Kayn’s mission statement was – he had to sign off on it to even allow Kayn to take this solo flight. Therefore he should know this wasn’t just a fact-finding exercise. It was only really half a research expedition. He’s informed Jarvan about the ‘kidnapped’ Templar prisoner he absolutely had to get back. That was technically mission objection number one.

Kayn merely shrugged.

“Well we’ve discovered everything closer to home,” he told Jarvan, “If we don’t know about it, then it’s more likely to be further afield. Besides, would you hide from the Empire in the heart of Imperial territory?”

“That sounds logical, even though I could pull up evidence to the contrary,” Jarvan informed him, “You haven’t started any sort of war yet, so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Have you actually discovered anything?”

“Yes,” Kayn stated, sitting up in his seat with pride, “Actually, I have.”

Jarvan clearly tried not to look too surprised. However he clearly was. Kayn couldn’t help but wonder why Jarvan even let him go on this mission if he didn’t think he’d accomplish anything.

“Is it what you intended to discover?” Jarvan asked.

“No, but it’s going in the right direction towards that,” Kayn assured him, “It’s the best lead I’ve had in some time.”

Jarvan was clearly trying to look encouraging but wasn’t quite convinced.

“Is this anything to do with the New Vehicle Registration form you requested yesterday?” he asked.

Kayn nodded enthusiastically. He would ask how Jarvan knew that, but he had the suspicion that Jarvan was being notified whenever he did anything out of the ordinary.

“I may need a bit more paperwork soon,” he informed the Emperor, “Because I made contact with an unregistered race of peoples. Or at least one of their forward scouts. The form is for his ship because he wants to traverse the Empire without getting in trouble for piloting an unrecognisable vehicle.”

Now he had Jarvan’s attention.

“Computer, send an image of the Tagari vessel currently in the hangar bay,” Kayn instructed his terminal. The lights of his chair terminal flashed in acknowledgement. There was a moment in which the image was sent, before Jarvan let out a little gasp.

“Wow, that’s…pretty. The amount of polish on that thing.”

Kayn heard Jarvan typing over their connection and wondered if he too was trying to search for the vehicle with his superior access to the Imperial Archives.

“You said the owner was…Tagari?” he asked, still typing away.

“Yes, I’ve spoken extensively with the Tagari I’ve met however I can’t find any trace of them in the archives. However I have rough coordinates of where the Planet Tagari used to be.”

Last night, after dinner and that enlightening conversation, he’d slotted Aphelios’ directions into the computer and managed to find the exact solar system orbiting a purple star. According to the archives, the system had ten planets orbiting a single star, however the information hadn’t been updated for three trade standard years. Tagari was still around when that happened. Kayn sent Jarvan the coordinates, proclaiming:

“If we’ve got any scouts or satellites around that system, we might want to recount how many planets are over there. Our information is very out of date. According to Aphelios, whilst he was away on mission, his home planet was destroyed by a Syndicate army, looking to mine the Ora from the world. He’s been travelling alone for the last two years, looking for the Tagari mothership, trying to regain contact with those who managed to evacuate. Unless you really want to stop me, I’m going to help him. He’s offered me knowledge on Ora and what the Tagari scientists do with it in exchange for my help in locating his people. Just think about it. If the Tagari can create a ship like that, who knows what else we can learn from them?”

Jarvan was still typing fast but he managed to focus his attention back on his camera.

“And you believe him?” he asked, “About everything he’s told you. Are you sure he’s not just some madman in a custom ship?”

“I do,” Kayn insisted, “I’ve got enough experience commanding to know when a soldier’s been nothing but open and honest. I can send you what he’s given me on the Tagari so far. I was going to ask you whether you could set up Universal Alert on the word.”

Jarvan picked up his mug again, leaning back in his chair.

“I already have one universal alert set out for you. You know I don’t like those. It’s morally dubious at best and we don’t know for sure if this Tagari can be believed.”

“Why not send a satellite in that direction. If there’s a planet missing, then his story checks out,” Kayn suggested, “And then you can set up a Universal Alert.”

Kayn didn’t see why Jarvan was so frugal with his alerts. If you had the power to search every known computer system the Empire had access to – from legal databases to citizens’ bank accounts, why wouldn’t you use it to your full advantage? Yes, it was fundamentally a huge invasion of people’s privacy, but previous Emperors wouldn’t have put the infrastructure in place if it wasn’t extremely useful. If he wanted to, Jarvan pick a person and know everything they’d ever done, or interacted with, as long as they’d done it within range of an Imperial system. If Jarvan set up an alert for the word “Tagari” he’d receive notifications if anyone wrote or said the word on any Imperial territory anywhere. It was the perfect way of locating Aphelios’ people! Probably an accurate way of doing so too, considering the word didn’t mean anything else.

“The worst that can happen is that we get no information,” Kayn continued, “But if Aphelios is speaking the truth, which I believe he is, then we have a potential new ally in a very technologically advanced nation. If we find and help the Tagari people, then it can only benefit us in the long run. If we help this one Tagari person, then we get the benefit of their Ora research, right now. We have more to lose by not helping.”

Jarvan sighed.

“Admittedly, this wasn’t how I thought our catch up would go,” he confessed, “But fine. If I send a probe out and they find a planet missing in that system, I will set you up an alert. But the responsibility for this mission, and all its potential results and consequences, are solely on your shoulders. I expect you to be filling out all due paperwork in a timely and status-accurate capacity. If you wish to take on a diplomatic mission, then I am going to hold you to the standards of an Imperial Diplomat.”

Kayn felt like he was getting told off by one of his school teachers. Jarvan was saying what he legally needed to say, but he sounded so stern and disapproving.

“You have such faith in me,” he commented sarcastically, leaning back in his chair, “I’m perfectly capable, whether you believe in me or not.”

“I do believe in you,” Jarvan replied, tone softening, “Or at least I want to believe in you.”

“Then why don’t you?” Kayn asked, “Why did you even let me go on this mission if you didn’t think I was going to achieve anything?”

Jarvan rubbed at his forehead with one hand as if Kayn’s questions were giving him a headache.

“Honestly?” he stated, looking back at the camera, “Because you haven’t taken a day of holiday since we first met, and I hoped this was an excuse for you to relax for a bit. That’s why you’re getting away with minimal reporting and only these little check-ups every now and again.”

That made sense. Jarvan was always telling him to do things like “take a break”, “drink more water”, “go and see your therapist” and “try a more relaxing hobby, what about going for walks?’ However he hadn’t really answered Kayn’s real question.

“Well, doing different work is kind of a break,” he told the Emperor, “Yet you sound like you don’t believe I can achieve anything out here! Why?”

If he didn’t push, Jarvan would never give him an answer. The man was too entrenched in giving diplomatic niceties that he never said what he explicitly meant. That was the problem with politicians and why Kayn would never be one. Whilst he understood perfectly why Jarvan worried about him, he still didn’t like being underestimated. Nothing ground his gears more than being looked down upon. Jarvan knew he was an intelligent man – a lethal warrior and an excellent commander. Why didn’t he think he was capable of something as simple as locating a prisoner and conducting some research? Did Jarvan need reminding of all the other Generals and senior officials he’d beaten down to get to where he was today?

“Because you have a very specific set of skills,” Jarvan replied, his tone rising slightly, “And none of those suit a research or diplomatic mission.”

“And yet you just gave me the go ahead to do that!” Kayn exclaimed, tone rising in turn, “You just said I could conduct a diplomatic mission. Did you say that thinking I’d fail? Are you trying to teach me about dealing with the consequences of my actions, is that it?”

“No,” Jarvan sighed, “Well, slightly.”

He was sounding increasingly more frustrated.

“Slightly?” Kayn repeated incredulously, “You want me to fail?!”

“No!” Jarvan interjected, “No! I want you to learn from your actions. I want to see that you’ve got skills beyond scheming and massacring. I want you to learn and be good at researching or diplomacy, or something, anything, that isn’t related to war. Because…because if you don’t, I don’t know how much more I can do for you.”

“What’s that mean?” Kayn asked, recoiling slightly. Was Jarvan suggested that if Kayn didn’t change profession he was going to try and get rid of him?

“ You won’t accept help,” Jarvan reminded him, “You won’t get medical treatment. You won’t see a therapist. You’ve resisted my every attempt to help you grow as a person. Ever since you lost Zed, you’ve been on a downward spiral, failing every psychiatric test we’ve ever put you through but… I am trying so hard to be there for you. I want there to be a place for you in the new empire but at this rate, I’m running out of reasons to justify keeping you around. ”

Betrayal, stinging hot as rage suddenly coursed through Kayn’s body. He almost rose from his seat as he heard Rhaast laughing softly at him in the corner of his mind.

“You’re trying to get rid of me!” he accused, pointing a finger at the view screen, “Because… because your stupid tests think I’m insane? Because my brain doesn’t fit into your idea of a ‘perfect empire’?”

“Because I am trying to turn this empire into one that no longer needs war!” Jarvan exclaimed, “Because a time will come when I can no longer justify employing mentally unstable young men to go out and destroy entire populations in the name of justice! And when there is no war, when the empire has outgrown the need for Ordinals, what will you be then? What will you have? No job, no family, no place in universe. All you’ve known is war, ever since you were a kid!”

“And who’s fault is that?” Kayn interrupted, “Your father’s! He’s the reason why you’ve got me and millions of other fucked up children out there! Because he decided to invade planet after planet in the name of Empire, I’m only following in his example!”

“What he did to you was barbaric, and that’s why I’ve been trying to help you!” Jarvan exclaimed back, “I want there to still be a place for you in the empire, I want to keep being there for you. But you refuse to adapt, to change! So I want you to go out! I want you to be discovering unknown races and making friends with new peoples. I want you to be researching this Ora science. Go prove yourself! Because maybe, when Ordinals become defunct, I can then give you another job. I will have a valid reason to keep you in employment and not in some secure institution. I am trying to help you so let me!”

Kayn realised that he was breathing hard, rage surging up inside him and blurring his vision with its call to action. This wasn’t good. The last time he’d been this pissed he’d wrecked a perfectly good milkshake bar.

“So believe in me,” he growled back, “So let me do this and I will prove to you how competent I truly am. I will find and help the Tagari, you will have a new ally for your ‘peaceful’ empire, and you won’t need to worry about how mentally stable I am. Put up an alert for me, and it’ll be even easier.”

Jarvan needed to face the facts. This empire had been built on war and war was the only way of sustaining a huge territory for any length of time. It was true, what Kayn excelled at most was fighting wars but it was frankly insulting to assume that was all he was good for. Did he think they only taught you how to bash heads at military school? If he was clever enough to outsmart entire nations, who said he couldn’t apply that intelligence in other directions? He was useful wherever he wanted to be. The idea that Jarvan would even consider getting rid of him was…. Was…

It was ludicrous!

And it would never happen…right?

They finished the conversation on slightly awkward terms, now all the yelling had been done. Kayn got the feeling from the Emperor that this argument had been a long time in the coming. The reason why they were having these personal catch-ups was because Jarvan didn’t trust him to not slaughter his way across whatever galaxy he happened upon. This was frankly a disservice to Kayn’s ability as an Ordinal. Mastering war involved knowing when to attack and when not to attack. He had no intention to fight anyone right now. Well, he’d take on the Morning Star when he found it, but that was part of the mission objective. He didn’t intend to fight anyone _else_ right now. In fact picking random fights would look absolutely terrible in front of his guest, so he was aiming to do exactly the reverse of that. He was actively trying not to fight anyone else – Jarvan should be proud! Well, now he had permission for this mission, he would just have to prove the Emperor wrong. He and Aphelios were going to advance the Empire’s knowledge on Ora by centuries and perhaps even supply a valuable new ally in the meantime! He’d show him! Jarvan would be apologising to him by the time they were done!

If only Rhaast agreed with his confidence.

 **“Who’s antiquated now?”** he taunted as Kayn looked about for the robot that was meant to be bringing him a sandwich.

“Still you,” Kayn told him, “War is never-ending. You got replaced by the lawnmower.”

 **“Sounds like your power is running out, whilst mine is infinite,”** Rhaast boasted, **“Your wielder is trying to ditch his weapons, whilst I can always find another worthy soul.”**

“He’s not my wielder!” Kayn protested, “I am not a mere weapon to be handled by others!”

 **“Oh really?”** Rhaast chuckled, **“Because I’m pretty sure you’re a tool others use to do their killing.”**

“The only tool here is you,” Kayn spat. His sandwich wasn’t here yet so he sat back down.

“Computer, where is Aphelios?”

 _“Aphelios is located in the Seer’s Reach,”_ the ship reported dutifully. Ah, so he was still sequestering himself away after that incident in the showers.

 **“Still hiding,”** Rhaast commented.

“Send him a message and ask if he wants breakfast sent to him,” Kayn ordered, “And work out where the hell my breakfast has got to.”

Whether Aphelios had breakfast, Kayn wasn’t to know. He didn’t see the Tagari until afternoon arrived in the facsimile of time they used here in the depths of space. Over the course of the morning, he received not the vehicle registration form, but the form for applying for a vehicle registration form. He spent a very frustrating hour filling that out before sorting through what correspondence had gathered in his inbox since yesterday afternoon. Scanning a few military newsletters, he determined that neither of his rival Ordinals were up to anything extraordinary either, before focusing on the mission at hand. He had various contacts scattered around Imperial Territories and highly-populated hotspots around the border systems. They were employed to research whatever he needed to know – in this case the location of the Morning Star. None of them were being particularly useful at this moment, which was their loss really. He only paid for useful information. The Winged Glory was progressing slowly through the outer territories assuming that the Morning Star would be spotted immediately if it went anywhere more built up. Of course they could be far from the empire, but Kayn doubted that. The Empire and the planets the Empire contested were the ripest for ill-gotten gains, adventuring opportunity, good food and whatever else it was that space pirates enjoyed apart from stealing Kayn’s prisoners.

Well, now he had something Captain Yasuo and the crew of the Morning Star could never have. An extremely attractive Tagari man was staying on his ship, bearing knowledge those damned pirates could only dream of! It appeared Aphelios had finally got over his unease from earlier, for he re-joined Kayn on the bridge, quietly stepping down to the central console as Kayn watched the latest news up on the ship’s view screen.

“My apologies,” Aphelios stated, standing by the chair that should belong to an on-ship navigator, “I intended to come back sooner but I managed to get a call through to Alune.”

“Is everything alright?” Kayn asked. Aphelios nodded.

“She is fine. As am I. I asked her permission to share what files I had with me on her Ora-based Bio-Engineering efforts. She reminded me that, as these folders all pertain to experiments done on my person, I was free to do with them as I wish. I am currently converting them into a format that can be sent to your ship’s computer.”

Kayn’s heart raced at the thought of what he might be getting. The info behind Aphelios’ amazing Ora augments? He couldn’t wait!

“Well, I just finished with the form to request the form we need,” he told Aphelios, gesturing that he could sit if he wanted, “And I spoke to the Emperor. He’s given me his permission to start searching for the Tagari people. Though he wants to make a few checks before he gives me further resources to do so.”

Aphelios’ eyes widened, his lips parting in a slight expression of surprise as he took his seat.

“You spoke to your Emperor about us?” he asked, voice full of disbelief, “And…and he wanted to help?”

“He took a bit of persuading but he has full confidence in my abilities,” Kayn replied, as if the action was nothing to write home about. Rhaast started chuckling to himself but Kayn ignored him.

“He’s going to send a probe out to the system where Tagari was, and once he’s gathered everything that needs to be recorded there, he’s going to set up an Empire-wide alert to get information coming in. If someone has seen your mothership, then the information will come straight back to me.”

“That’s…” Aphelios was clearly struggling for words. He had fisted his hands in his gloves and buried them in his lap. As he fidgeted, the deep purple curls of his fringe bounced a little against his face, dark in contrast to the gleaming Ora that framed his chin. Kayn couldn’t help but wonder if the lights on his chin and scalp reacted to his emotional state. They were flickering slightly as he tried to compose himself, as if uncertain as he was.

“That is…more than I could ever have hoped for,” Aphelios managed, “When I boarded a stranger’s ship, I was mostly expecting to be kidnapped or…or murdered. Certainly not helped so much.”

The question did remain as to why he’d come aboard at all if he thought Kayn was going to murder him, but he’d unpack that another time.

“Well if you’ve got the power to, you should really use your station to help people,” Kayn stated, “I’m glad it was me who found you then, rather than someone with bad intentions.”

“So am I,” Aphelios admitted, “This is beyond all my expectations. I don’t know what I can do to repay all this kindness.”

“Learning more about the Tagari and your use of Ora is all the payment I need,” Kayn assured him, “Though the pleasure of your company certainly makes it all the better.”

Aphelios opened his mouth to say something, then abruptly closed it again. He glanced up at the view screen as if the news channel had suddenly grabbed his attention.

“Yesterday,” he replied, still not looking at Kayn, “You said something about sparring. Would… you like to do that? When you’ve got the time I mean.”

“Of course,” Kayn said, “I’ve wrapped up what needs my attention for a bit. Would you like to go check out the training room now?”

“Sure.” Aphelios got to his feet, tearing his gaze away from the screen as Kayn restored it back to its usual view of deep space.

Leading him away from the bridge, Kayn took the quick cut through the staff lounge and out the other side to where all the rooms for staff fitness and training lay. Naturally, he brought Rhaast with him, however as he unlocked the training room, he realised that he might have to change his plans. Whilst he dearly wanted to spar against Aphelios at full capacity – he with Rhaast and Aphelios with his beautiful Moon-Ora weapons, it perhaps wouldn’t be very practical. Rhaast had a will of his own, which had turned the tide of many a battle. Once a fight began there was no telling him to hold back. They were much the same in that regard. However, they weren’t fighting to kill here, or even injure. There was no telling Rhaast to dial down his power, no way of muffling his power, no safety that Kayn could engage. He had no intention of slicing Aphelios to ribbons and therefore he probably had to make Rhaast sit out on this one. He could go and get another weapon from the armoury, but the training facility had its own solutions to this particular problem.

As they entered, the room lit up a dazzling white. Each wall, and the ceiling, was covered in uniform white tiles, each about a square metre in size. The tiny gaps between each wall plate was lit with a soft orange glow, making the entire room look like it had been wrapped in a faintly glowing grid. Apart from the orange hue to the lighting, it was pretty much your bog-standard staff training facility. The tiles were packed with projectors and sensors, able to simulate thousands of different training protocols, measuring every movement of the room’s inhabitants, recording and then acting accordingly to either counter or advise. The floor was also white, but it have been covered in a thick gel-like layer of plastic to provide extra grip to those fighting there. The thickness and texture of the gel layer could be changed from the access panel by the door, making it more or less slippery, to simulate environments that the crew might find themselves in. Kayn didn’t see any reason to change it right now for a simple sparring session. However, he did make one request of the training computer.

“Present training weapons,” he told the little square of orange light.

Aphelios, who had been looking curiously around the space, jumped slightly as one of the wall tiles lifted away and a rack of gleaming white tools protruded from the space within.

“I would love to see what you can do with your arsenal,” Kayn told him, “As much I would like to fight with my preferred weapon. However, my scythe doesn’t exactly come with a safety precaution, and I don’t want to do any serious damage.”

 **“Boring,”** Rhaast told him, **“I wanted to see if he bled Ora.”**

“That makes sense,” Aphelios replied, thankfully talking over Rhaast, “You raise a good point. My weapons do not get any less deadly. I would be happy to give you a demonstration at some point but perhaps now is not the time?”

“If we’re wielding the same sort of equipment, it’s a test of true skill,” Kayn stated, “We can see what makes the man, not just his tools.”

Aphelios smiled. Damn, he’d seen it a few times now but Kayn was still overwhelmingly weak to that smile. To distract himself, he placed Rhaast by the weapon rack as Aphelios said:

“Would you like to set a goal to this sparring session? A means by which one of us will win?”

A contest? Kayn loved contests. He pulled a combat staff from the rack, pressing the button so it extended to its full Rhaast-like length. The staff was tipped with orange shock pads on each end, which began to glow as the staff was activated. Whilst they didn’t hurt that much, the pads would deliver a light shock when they impacted a person to warn them that they would have received a serious injury if this was a real battle.

“Certainly, first to yield?”

Aphelios actually laughed at that. A quiet chuckle, barely louder than an intake of breath.

“I don’t feel pain,” he reminded Kayn, “Or exhaustion. Even when there’s a blade in my back. It wouldn’t be fair on you, since I don’t know how to yield.”

At least he was enough of a gentleman to tell Kayn before he made a fool of himself. Aphelios walked over to the training weapon rack and surveyed the options. He picked up a pair of batons, white with orange shock-pads on each end. Feeling their weight in each hand, he spun them a few times before stepping back, seemingly satisfied with his choice. Kayn noted he was still wearing the case for his moon-Ora weapons on his hip, but the container looked like it was remaining closed.

“Ok…” Kayn mused aloud, trying to think of a means that would work on someone who wouldn’t give up, “How about we aim to pin? Whoever can get the other on the ground, and count to five with them successfully pinned, wins?”

He may have recently watched some old Galactic Giants wrestling clips whilst bored.

“Sounds good,” Aphelios agreed, “Any other rules?”

Kayn had to think over that. What might make this less of a pleasure than it should be? This was meant to be a chance to show off, or at least for him to evaluate just how good a fighter Aphelios was. So what could ruin that?

“How do you feel about grappling?” he asked, realising he probably should have asked before he made pinning the end-result of their bout, “Are you alright with hand-on-body contact?”

Aphelios looked a little confused.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just checking,” Kayn shrugged. He’d mostly been thinking about Aphelios’ reactions in the showers earlier. He clearly had some ill-feelings and insecurities about his body. Perhaps he didn’t want to be touched? However if he said he was fine, then he was fine.

“I guess, say if you want to stop,” he continued, “And let’s just spar, not cause each other any sort of debilitating injuries.”

“Understood.”

The rack of weapons retreated back into the wall as they trod further into the room. Kayn took up a fighting stance at the far side, allowing a few metres distance between himself and Aphelios to start. Rhaast was clearly watching them from the wall as Aphelios spun his batons, leaving bright orange trails in their wake as the lighting around them dimmed slightly. This was going to be interesting. Due to his extensive military experience, Kayn had a fairly accurate knowledge of fighting techniques used in the Empire, in the numerous Syndicate armies, even in the various criminal networks across the galaxies. Aphelios and the Tagari however… they were complete enigmas to him. Not only that, Aphelios wasn’t a typical Tagari, adding one exciting layer of intrigue on top of another. It had been so long since he’d come up against someone so brilliantly unknowable. He could hardly wait to see him in action.

“Computer, countdown from five,” he ordered the control panel.

The lights between the panels flashed in acknowledgement. A robotic sounding voice started at five and steadily began counting down. Kayn dropped into a fighting stance, lowering his centre of gravity as he held his staff in both hands before, ready for wherever Aphelios’ first strike may land. Aphelios had yet to move. Still standing ramrod straight, twirling his batons as he waited for the countdown to finish.

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

Fuck!

Kayn had thought he was ready. He was not. No sooner had the claxon sounded, Aphelios came at him with unnatural speed. His feet seemed to merely skim the ground as he crossed the distance in a matter of seconds. Kayn’s vision was suddenly a blur of orange as he leapt back, just in time for one of Aphelios’ batons to narrowly miss his face. He dropped, swiftly pivoting out of Aphelios’ striking range before lunging forward, staff first. Yet Aphelios already seemed one step ahead. He blocked Kayn’s staff with his foot, the shock pad buzzing harmlessly off his boot. He redirected the weapon by clamping it between his ankles and almost wrenching it out of Kayn’s hands. The vertical jump rapidly turned into a flip over Kayn, using his shoulders as a launch pad, almost bringing him down with him. It would have likely floored him if Kayn hadn’t whirled the staff round back over his head, trying to dislodge him and narrowly missing Aphelios as he landed with both feet solidly on the floor behind where Kayn stood. Now Kayn knew better than to give him even a moment to recover. Turning on his heel, he bore his staff down on Aphelios, who dropped into a crouch as he slid to one side and took a strike at Kayn’s shins. Well, Aphelios wasn’t the only one who could leap around if he needed to. Kayn kicked upwards, coat flapping as he missed Aphelios by a hair as Aphelios dodged backwards. Undeterred, Kayn opted to chase Aphelios round the room, deciding to take his time to locate where Aphelios’ strengths and weakness really lay. Knowing your opponent was half the fight and one factor he was going to need to take in swiftly if he had a hope in hell at getting Aphelios on the ground beneath him. In a wrestling capacity! Not in a…never mind!

He didn’t want Aphelios to know he was trying to size him up, so he kept attacking. They were both taking swipes and strikes at the other. Most missed. Others buzzed harmlessly off armour or clothing. Aphelios seemed to have gathered they were playing chase now, because he wasn’t making Kayn’s pursuit easy for him. His reflexes were frankly inhuman, and his ability to leap up and off walls was both incredibly impressive and rather alarming. Planting his staff in the gel-covered ground, Kayn attempted to match his agility, using the staff as a support pole as he switched to hand-to-hand combat. This gave him plenty more opportunity to analyse Aphelios’ movements now he wasn’t going anywhere fast. However, there was a distinct problem in his mission to find Aphelios’ weak points.

He didn’t appear to have any.

Fighting a man with no concept of pain or exhaustion was like nothing Kayn had experienced before. In a particularly long engagement, or when Kayn was looking to subdue rather than kill, he always tried to weaken his opponent, wear them down with his superior endurance until the fight was in the bag. He would work away at tiring their limbs, impairing their senses, put them in too much non-life-threatening pain that they couldn’t continue the fight. Yet how was he supposed to do that to Aphelios? He could cut the man’s arm off and he wouldn’t feel a thing! He could be dropping asleep where he stood, but it wouldn’t affect his senses one bit! Kayn found himself wondering if Aphelios had additional sensors in his visible augments that were communicating back to his eyepiece. He was dodging strikes from behind that he truly shouldn’t have been able to see. This man was as much a super soldier as he’d described. Kayn was over the moon to be fighting him, but he just couldn’t work out how to get through this man’s considerable skill and seemingly unnatural reaction times. To his own credit, he’d given as good as he’d gotten. The few hits he’d managed to get on Aphelios’ armour had been satisfying but they had been easy matched by a few hard wallops across the back and shoulders. Aphelios had even managed to strike bare skin, delivering a slight shock to Kayn’s ear, making him hiss and shudder. To be honest, he was swiftly realising he should be proud to even be able to keep pace with this man. And that was a lot considering he was one of the best fighters in the entire Empire.

 **“I like this one,”** Rhaast purred as Kayn leapt back in ear shot of the scythe. Every time they went around the room, and Kayn returned to the scythe’s communication range, he had a different commentary on how this little match was going. Kayn got the impression that Rhaast was narrating the whole thing like a sports caster, but he could only hear him for a fraction of the time.

**“And the Tagari aims to trip up the Ordinal with his far superior speed, fantastic athleticism and elegant fighting form. The Ordinal swings his paltry stick back at the Tagari, glancing the pole off his shoulder plate with all the ferociousness of a kitten batting at yarn…”**

Kayn didn’t need the distraction right now, so attempted to steer the fight away from Rhaast whenever possible. Unfortunately for him however, Kayn was swiftly developing another distraction for himself. He hadn’t had a fight quite this challenging, quite so thrilling, in a long time. There was nothing like duelling an angelic super soldier to really get your blood boiling and well… His was definitely moving to other quarters as he clashed again and again with Aphelios’ batons. Everything about Aphelios was pure beauty. From the way the light glinted off his Ora, to the look of concentration on his handsome features, to the graceful movements of his combat style as he tried to knock Kayn into the ground. Being so thoroughly given the run around like this… Knowing he could be easily be beaten to pulp if he let his guard down for a second… Watching Aphelios’ muscles flex in the little exposed skin he had… Yeah, he was turned on in a major way right now and he didn’t think that was going to get any better the longer they fought. He had to finish this before he stopped thinking with his brain and started thinking with his…

“If you’re holding back,” he told Aphelios, “Don’t. I can take it.”

Aphelios grinned. It wasn’t his soft polite smile, but a devious triumphant smirk. Kayn instantly loved it.

“If you insist,” Aphelios replied.

WHAM.

Kayn hit the ground before Aphelios’ batons had even finished their arc through the air. Aphelios had thrown them up above their heads, abandoning his weapons in that split second so he could pounce at Kayn, arms outstretched. All his weight behind the motion, he slammed into Kayn. Driving him down onto the floor, his thighs clamped around Kayn’s waist, they hit the ground hard. As Kayn could do nothing but stare through his shock, Aphelios deftly caught his batons and pointed them at Kayn’s throat.

“One, two, three, four, five. I win,” Aphelios stated, sounding the most confident Kayn had ever heard him. He was still grinning that cocky smile even as he tossed his batons to one side, leaning forwards to hold Kayn’s arms to the ground, where they had landed by his head.

“This counts as pinning, right?”

Kayn might have just fallen in love.

Taking a moment to simply breathe, they stared at each other. Aphelios shifted back a little, still very much sat on Kayn but appearing to bask in the moment. That was until he moved just a little too far. Suddenly freezing, his cocky smile disappeared and his cheeks were suddenly dusted with pink.

“You…” he commented, “You have an erection.”

Yep. Now should Kayn excuse himself or own it? What would make him look better?

“Being thrown about by a handsome guy will do that to me,” he replied, deciding the latter would make him look like a more confident and capable individual.

Aphelios paused for a moment. His expression swiftly turned inscrutable, just a slight crease at his brow giving away his mental state, until he stated:

“I’ve killed a lot of people. You understand that, right?”

Kayn gave him an easy smile. Was that meant to put him off? He was going to need to try harder than that.

“So have I,” he replied, “Hundreds.”

“I didn’t even feel bad about it,” Aphelios insisted, “Sometimes I didn’t even register them as people.”

“They tend to blur together in the heat of battle,” Kayn agreed, “Besides, what kind of soldiers would we be if we weren't desensitised to death?”

That definitely gave Aphelios pause. He let go of one of Kayn’s wrists and used his freed hand to reach up and gently move some of Kayn’s hair from his face, revealing a little more of his eyepiece.

“I’m a killing machine,” Aphelios stated, “Nothing more.”

“You’re at most a cyborg,” Kayn told him, “And if you are, then I most certainly am too. At heart we’re both still deeply and unrepentantly human.”

Aphelios almost smiled at that. Kayn definitely saw his lips twitch.

“You’re supposed to be disgusted by me,” Aphelios told him, his fingertips still in Kayn’s hair, almost absentmindedly playing with his fringe.

“Never!” Kayn declared, as if he was defying a command to give up top secret information. That did get a smile out of Aphelios, if only for a moment. The way Aphelios was playing with the fluffy ends of his hair was somehow incredibly endearing. He probably couldn’t feel the texture but the motion clearly gave him some sort of subconscious satisfaction.

“Not even a little?” Aphelios asked, “Even after you’ve seen me fight? Even after you saw all they did to me? There’s so little of me that hasn’t been pried open and prodded and...and deformed?”

“Never,” Kayn repeated, “You’re the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever met. You’re so talented it takes my breath away, and…and I just want to know you more. Get to know the true Aphelios, not just all the shitty things you’ve been made to believe about yourself. You can’t change my mind. You can’t make me dislike you.”

Aphelios rolled his eyes as if he believed Kayn was being immature.

“Even if I kicked your ass a second time?” he asked, a hint of smugness in his tone.

“Even if I wiped the floor with you again _Ordinal_?”

Aphelios had changed tactics, trying to take a shot at Kayn’s pride to make him hate him. It wasn’t going to happen.

“Please, having my ass beat by a beautiful Ora wearing gentleman is practically my wet dream,” Kayn told him, “I’ll drop everything and spar whenever you want if this is the aftermath.”

Aphelios look at their position. He seemed to realise what he was doing and let go of Kayn’s hair and shuffling back a little. Unfortunately his new position was putting pressure on a certain problem Kayn was still having. His shapely backside was now pressing down on Kayn’s erection and wow this was like some form of erotic torture by this point. Nevertheless, Kayn was still very into it.

“You’re still hard,” Aphelios commented, a note of wonder in his voice, “Even though we just spoke about killing.”

Yeah, that happened sometimes.

“Having you on top of me is quite the distraction,” Kayn admitted, “Not complaining though.”

Hesitation crossed Aphelios’ features in a flash of unbridled emotion, before his features went back to being passive again. In that moment, Kayn had never seen a man look more conflicted. There was a want mixed with apprehension, fear heaped with a liberal dose of desire. Was it possible? Was he just seeing what he wanted to see or was Aphelios actually considering…? It suddenly occurred to him that Aphelios might be considering how best to navigate this situation considering he was aboard Kayn’s ship. Kayn was technically the one in power here, even though he was flat against the floor.

“You don’t have to put up with my shit just because I’m helping you,” Kayn told him, “If I’m being wildly inappropriate, just slap me and tell me never to do it again.”

Aphelios looked a little surprised, but then he smiled.

“Oh I understand,” Aphelios replied, “I won’t be putting up with anything I don’t have to. Especially now I know I can take you down.”

There was that smug confidence that Kayn so dearly loved.

“Maybe not here,” Aphelios told him, “Certainly not now. But soon, perhaps.”

He got off Kayn and to his feet with that melodramatic statement. Kayn scrambled after him, trying to work out what the hell he meant by that. Not here not now but soon? What was he talking about? When he was going to slap Kayn? When he was going to…going to reciprocate Kayn’s attraction to him? Kayn picked up his staff off the ground before beginning to straighten out his clothes.

“I realised something earlier,” Aphelios stated softly as he picked up his batons “When I went back to my ship.”

“What was that?” Kayn asked, smoothing his coat back into place to hide his predicament.

“When I started to panic in the shower earlier,” Aphelios explained, “It wasn’t because I was embarrassed or...or uncomfortable because you were looking at me. I have been prodded into, poked at, analysed so many times on the laboratory table that being looked at doesn’t bother me.”

Well that was somewhat of a relief. Though the more Kayn heard about this lab Aphelios used to go to the less he liked the sound of it.

“No,” Aphelios continued, switching off the batons, “What freaked me out was your kindness. Your praise. I’m just not used to anyone except Alune saying things that are so nice.”

Kayn really didn’t like the sound of that. No one should be such a stranger to compliments that hearing them was frightening! He was about to say just that when Aphelios carried on speaking:

“I understand it’s because you’re from a different culture. You don’t have the full knowledge of what I am, what I’m for. To you I’m new and exciting, whilst to the Tagari… I am just a living weapon, a machine. But… I really like it.”

What did that mean?

“What do you like?” Kayn asked, eager to do exactly more of whatever he said. Aphelios gave him another one of those charming soft smiles.

“I like being new and exciting,” he confessed, “I like being treated as something special, someone worth wanting to be around. I know we’ve only known each other a day now and my soldier’s instinct says never trust that easily but… you’re very easy to like. Because you’re kind to me. Because you’re funny and generous too, but mostly because this is kind of what I imagined having a friend is like.”

He was going to tear Kayn’s heart in half if he kept talking like this. Kayn wasn’t even sure he had a heart to break before Aphelios had started talking but yep, there it was. Ow. The fact Aphelios could be so open and honest with him after merely a day was frankly extraordinary. But why would you need to hide anything when you could beat the living daylights out of anyone who gave away your secrets? Kayn wasn’t a threat to this man, that must be why Aphelios felt so comfortable sharing what should probably be reserved for his therapist. (Not that Kayn knew much about therapy.) Perhaps the fact that Kayn was being so unexpectedly kind to him had drawn out his honesty, his need to talk after so long spent alone in the depths of space? Either way, Kayn wasn’t going to abuse this trust put into him. Aphelios liked him. Liked how Kayn treated him. He was so lonely that perhaps he needed someone to be there for him. Needed someone to be kind and give him the praise he’d so lacked in the rest of his life. Aphelios could need him. Kayn could be needed…

“Then let’s try being friends,” Kayn told him, “Can’t say I have too many, but I’m willing to get to know you better, if you’re ready to do the same.”

Aphelios wandered over to him. He stopped incredibly close to Kayn stood, perhaps a little closer than he’d expected.

“I’d like that,” he confessed, “I like…you.”

Aphelios kissed him on the cheek.

And then ran from the room before Kayn could so much as blink.


End file.
